A Realm Above
by Ashe1001
Summary: The Winx Club are back as they complete thier final year of school. Hoping for a normal year of school, their hopes are shattered when two children who claim they come from a world outside of Magix are in need of help, though wary of the idea.
1. Author's Note

**AN: Okay so when I originally wrote this story I used different names for a lot of the characters. On a suggestion I changed a lot of the names but they are driving me up a wall since I still think of the characters with the old names. So this ****IS ****the same story just a lot of the characters have their original names. **

** ~Ashe**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Chāo (超) watched as the fires spread across the land. He heard the screams of both the people and the land, both of which he ignored. _"They look down on you. They don't understand anything."_ A voice commanded in his ear. "They'll all be destroyed by my hand."

_Two Years later_

Waking up with a kink in her back, Jiā (家) stretched her arms as she looked around her cave dwellings. Sighing she stood up and tried to position her rags so they would cover her legs, which were shivering due to the cool morning breeze. Taking a tentative step, Jiā was relieved that the stone floor wasn't to bristling cold; a sign that summer was coming. Walking towards the entrance to the cave, she saw Tetsushi laying asleep by the door way. Smiling she squatted down next to him and pushed his long dark hair from his face. _"If you are going to leave this cave you are going to wake me up."_ The order echoed loudly in her head as she looked at the other people in the cave. People who would have never met were now seeking comfort and warmth in each other's body heat. Sighing again, Jiā looked back at Tetsushi. His sleeping face was so calm and peaceful Jiā didn't want to destroy the image. Standing up quietly Jiā tip-toed out into the labyrinth of tunnels that surrounded the cave. She was shammed that they people that she loved so dearly were forced to live in such conditions all by one man's greed and own self-doubt. As she walked the familiar path, she could see the morning light from the sun. The heat of the light sent waves of warmth though her frozen figure. Smiling at the warmth Jiā continued to walk on, towards the edges of the city.

_Underneath the barren stars a land unified until the day it shall break, a young girl races to her friends. _

Bloom raced around the school building, a stack of books in her hands. "Excuse me, Pardon me!" she yelled as she ran pasted other students. Bloom reached the dormitories and paused a moment to catch her breath. Taking a deep breath she opened the door only to be bombarded by pillows. "Stop, Stop!" she begged through her laughter.

"You're late," Stella's voice called out.

"I have a good reason," Bloom replied as she looked at her best friends.

_As a happy reunion takes place below, a young girl races for her life above. _

Jiā ran as fast as her small feet would carry her. Sparing a look over her shoulder she saw the bright gold helmets of the Dì Qiú (地球) soldiers. There dark brown skin hugged to their frame making them look starved. Jiā shuddered as she remembered their black sockets where eyes should be. Running as fast as she could, knowing that being caught by one of the cursed creatures meant death, Jiā slid into a bush in hopes to hide herself. She tightened her hold on herself as she felt herself surrounded by the Dì Qiú.

"Where pretty?" their voices were like whispers and sent alarming chills down her spine.

"Leave her," a strong human voice ordered. Jiā moved her head slightly to the side and saw a silver General helmet. Jiā quickly froze her entire frame as she prayed that the general hadn't seen the movement. "We are to report to the prison to help with the imprisonment of the last rebels."

"Yes sir," hissed into the air as the group left quietly.

"It can't be," Jiā whispered as she looked into the trees. "Please say it's not them." Jiā crawled out of her hiding place then began to sprint across the ground. Coming to the entrance that she had used that morning she was shocked to find it blocked off with piles of rock. Taking a breath and reminding herself not to panic, Jiā ran up towards the mountain. As she ran she felt her foot slip out from underneath her. Hitting the ground hard, Jiā looked at her hand to see a thing line of red. Clenching her fist she continued to run as she prayed to anything that the Dì Qiú were far enough away and couldn't smell her blood. Racing into the side of the mountain Jiā breathed as she saw the entrance open. Quickly running inside she pushed away the boulder that lead into the tunnels. Sprinting down the semi-familiar path, Jiā felt the stone floor leave her feet as she plummeted into the abyss. Closing her eyes she waited for the impact once she reached the ground again. Instead of feeling the ground she felt herself floating. Opening an eye, Jiā was surprised to find a long blue rope around her. Looking to her side she smiled at seeing one of Tetsushi 's familiars, Yú Jìn (余烬). As the tiny dragon set her onto the ground, Jiā pet his small head as a sign of thanks. "Take me to Tetsushi." Jiā ordered in a small voice. Quickly the tiny blue dragon to the sky and began to fly around the tunnels, Jiā following quickly behind. Jiā looked around her, noticing that the patterns in the caves had changed. "They blasted." Jiā whispered as she fought to keep up with Yú Jìn. "Or they moved the rock," Jiā whispered to herself. Suddenly the loose rock underneath began to lift in the air. "Oh no," Jiā breathed as she began to sprint though the tunnels. At one point the rocks began to grow. Getting stuck on a large rock, Jiā felt herself lift into the air.

"Jump!" shouted through the tunnel as Jiā closed her eyes. Trusting the familiar voice, Jiā slid off the rock, into Tetsushi 's waiting arms. "They're still down here," he whispered as he pulled them into the shadow.

"How many?" Jiā looked at him; her eyes not quiet reaching him.

"We're the only two left," Tetsushi told her.

"Then there was four," Jiā whispered.

"We have to think of something," Tetsushi told her.

"Rest, I'll think," Jiā ordered as she pulled him down.

_Underneath, a group of friends is feeling the joys of love. _

"Here they come!" Stella shrieked as she watched the leva-bikes pull up. "Brandon didn't win."

"And you guys are doing my chores for a week!" Riven exclaimed as he pulled off his helmet.

"Hey Riven," Musa called, smiling. Riven nodded at her, a small smile across his face.

"BRANDON!" Stella screamed as she launched herself onto him.

"It's nice to see you too," Brandon laughed as he held onto Stella.

"Hey Sky," Bloom said walking over to him. "Sorry about the loss."

"That's okay. I still won something," he whispered as he pecked her on the cheek.

"The hover ship!" Tecna called out as she pointed to the sky. Everyone looked up to see the hover ship come to a landing. Tecna smiled as she watched Timmy and Helia walk out of the hover ship. "How are you Timmy?"

"Excellent!" he replied hugging her.

"Hi Helia," Flora called quietly, somewhat shy.

"Hi Flora," Helia smiled as he took her hand.

"Alright let's go!" Stella yelled as she hopped on the back of Brandon's bike.

"Layla come on!" Tecna called her over as she and Timmy walked to hover ship.

"_Nabu,"_ Layla thought to herself as she played with her engagement ring _"I miss you."_

_A monster attacks 'lone refugees, shaking the earth. _

"TETSUSHI !" Jiā screamed as she felt another shake of the earth. Tetsushi startled awake as the earth continued to shake.

"Jiā!" He grunted as he lifted her up and began to fly out of the shadows and out into the open sky. Following them as far as it could a Jùshí Shé (巨石蛇) rose from the ground and bared it's fangs. Tetsushi flew around the long snake like creature, taking note that its eyes were pure black. "It's possessed."

"What isn't," Jiā replied as they landed on the ground. "What do we do?"

"Avoid getting hit," Tetsushi replied as he dodged a strike.

"You can put me down," Jiā told him. She looked up at Tetsushi only to be greeted with a look that said 'are you serious?' "Or not," she quickly corrected as she looked back at the Jùshí Shé. "Tetsushi I thought of something while you were sleeping."

"Which was?" Tetsushi asked, somewhat distracted by having to dodge the Jùshí Shé's attack's in the air.

"We could go to the lands of the earth," Jiā whispered.

"No, they're arrogant and that's the last thing we need," Tetsushi answered as landed for a brief moment.

"Tetsushi we may not have a choice," Jiā whispered as they took to the skies again. "We are alone." Tetsushi looked at her, his eyes sad. He knew in his gut that she was right. Jiā looked up at him hoping that he would understand. Abruptly, the ground underneath them began to shake as the Jùshí Shé came up through the ground. Jiā screamed as she felt her body be wrenched out of Tetsushi 's arms. Jiā closed her eyes, hoping that something would come to her rescue soon, hoping that she wouldn't have to hit the hard ground. Looking around herself she was shocked to feel herself moving rapidly downward while being surrounded by white light. Closing her eyes again, she was shocked to feel herself hit the earth.

_At last the reunion has begun._

Bloom was shocked to see a shooting star crash into the ground in the courtyard of Alfea. As the plum of dust raced their way she felt Sky pull her to himself while covering her mouth. As the wind and dust passed over them, Bloom was surprised to hear a large blood-curtailing roar. Looking back over she was shocked to see the large snake that was moving around. On the ground were two kids, a boy and girl.

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**AN: Please Please Review! They make me very happy!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Jiā woke up to hear nothing but screams. Rubbing her eyes she was shocked to find herself nowhere near the mountain. Looking around she saw a large loaming building that was a pale pink in color with more windows that she could count. A deep roar brought her from her trance as she looked at the Jùshí Shé. It was targeting girls who looked like they were fairies but not like fairies she had ever seen before. Standing up, she pulled a small knife from the folds in her rags and raced towards the Jùshí Shé. Striking it next to its eye, she gained its attention.

Bloom watched as the girl jumped from place to place, missing the giant snake's strikes. In her hand, Bloom saw the glint of a sliver knife. Behind her she heard a groan. Turning around, she saw the boy begin to awaken.

Jiā knew that she couldn't hold out against the speed of the Jùshí Shé much longer. Panting for air, she panicked when she felt her foot slide across the ground. Looking up she watched, as though in slow motion, the Jùshí Shé begin to strike at her position. "TAKE COVER!" a familiar voice shouted as walls of flames shot past her and into the Jùshí Shé's face. Rearing back the snake like creature allowed Jiā enough time to race to Tetsushi. Looking back at the Jùshí Shé, Jiā was astonished to see its hide scorched. Looking over at Tetsushi she was shocked to see his eyes turning red.

"Tetsushi?" Jiā asked looking up at the boy. "Why are you mad?"

"That," Tetsushi managed as he pointed across the courtyard. Jiā followed his direction and was shocked to see the Wáng of the stars standing across from then, the Jùshí Shé trapped in a coffin of Ice.

"It seems to me that a Wáng, or a King as you call it," he looked over his shoulder towards an older woman with a lot of power running though her body, "has to fix what criminals bring about."

"We're not criminals!" Jiā shouted at him.

"I beg to differ," his smile was crooked and pure evil. Jiā couldn't comprehend what was happening as the ice encased her body, her hand clutching the back of Tetsushi 's shirt.

Stella watched in amazement as the mysterious man conquered the snake creature with one attack. "He's strong," she muttered as she landed on the ground.

"Something doesn't sit right with me," Brandon added, "it was almost too easy for him to take it down. And he trapped those kids in ice."

"But, he said they were criminals," Flora added.

"Ms. Fargonda," the man began as he turned towards the head mistress.

"How do you know my name?" Ms. Fargonda asked her tone very wary of the man.

"Where I come from, you are a bit of a legend, same with your girls; the Winx Club," he explained.

"And where is that exactly?" Ms. Fargonda asked, obviously not believing his story.

"Don't listen to him ma'am," the girl cried out as they ice melted around them, "he's nothing but a liar."

"She's right miss," the boy added, "he's a hypocrite to."

"Would the pair of you please be QUIET!" the man yelled as both kids flew back in opposite directions. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Chāo, the Wáng of Dìqiú Zhī Xīng, or in your language the king of Dìqiú Zhī Xīng."

"I see," Ms. Fargonda answered slowly.

"Don't listen to him!" the girl's voice screamed.

"You'll have to excuse my niece, Jiā, she doesn't quite understand her place," Chāo explained.

"To you my place is in prison and all because I have magic. Something all of our people have!" Jiā shouted at him. "You're a liar and a coward. You say it's illegal to have magic yet, you have more magic than all of our people combined at this present moment!"

"I thought I told you to be QUIET!" Chāo yelled again as Jiā was thrown to the ground once more. "Perhaps you'll be a little more obedient if I crush your friend!" Chāo shouted as he pushed the frozen Jùshí Shé to the ground, on top of the boy.

"TETSUSHI!" Jiā screamed in pain. Looking at the shattered pieces of the Jùshí Shé she raced over and began to dig through the ice. Reaching Tetsushi, tears pooled in Jiā's eyes as she looked at his bloody face. "No, no please no. Not him. Not all I have left." Jiā muttered as she gently caressed his face. "I kill you," she whispered, looking up from Tetsushi.

"I'll destroy you," her voice was growing clearer. "Just like you destroyed us!" she ran at Chāo, her dagger pointing towards him.

Flora watched at the girl fought, tears streaming down her face in droplets. The man who had called himself Chāo attacked the girl whom he had called his niece. "I don't understand why are they fighting?"

"Because we have no choice," a soft voice answered. Flora looked over to the ice and was amazed to see the boy, Tetsushi, alive and awake.

"She thinks you're dead," Flora told him, "the girl."

"Jiā is her name," Tetsushi told her. "Please help me up." Flora nodded before moving closer to Tetsushi and lifting him up. "Thank you." Flora nodded in response.

Jiā struggled to avoid Chāo's attacks. She felt herself growing weaker and weaker. "Are you going to kill me or not?" Chāo taunted her. Jiā gritted her teeth as she tightened her grip on the knife. "No?" Chāo looked puzzled. "THAN I WILL!" he screamed, smiling as electricity raced towards her. Bracing herself, Jiā felt the energy consume her body. Letting out an air piercing scream she fell to the ground.

Tetsushi saw red as he watched Jiā's small frame collide with the ground. Racing towards her, he lifted her up gently only to see that she was barely awake, smiling at him while whispering something. Tetsushi carefully laid her on the ground after her eyes had closed. "So now the birdie's gonna protect the useless Gōng Zhǔ?"

"Never insult Jiā in front of me," Tetsushi 's voice was no more than a whisper as his mouth began to breathe fire like a dragon.

Helia pulled Flora close to him as they tried to avoid the ever growing flames. Flora glanced to her side to see that Bloom had created a fire proof shield around herself, protecting her, Sky, and Layla. Following her lead, Flora created a shield. Looking through the flames, Flora saw the small form of Jiā. Extending the shield, Helia raced around her and pulled Jiā into its protection. Slowly she began to stir as Flora knelt down beside her. "Why is their fire everywhere?" she asked, her voice small.

"Your friend, Tetsushi made it," Helia explained.

"Oh no," Jiā realized as she sat up, "I have to stop him, he doesn't wanna burn anything."

"You need to stay here, you're hurt," Flora pleaded with her.

"I'm the only one that can stop him, the only one that can help him. I'm the only one that can do anything," Jiā told them. "Stay here, in your shield. It will protect you." With that Jiā began to run off. Running through the flames Jiā felt the fire lick at her sick, burning her. Racing forward she was horror struck as she saw the human-like figure, made purely of flames that had resulted because of Tetsushi 's anger and hurt. Racing towards the base of the figure, Jiā ran into Tetsushi 's strong frame. As she looked at her friend she was hurt to see the more instinctual side of him taking over, replacing his more human side. Grabbing onto his arms Jiā buried her face into his chest, hoping to ignore the pain of the flames licking her skin. "Tetsushi, it's me. It's Jiā. I'm okay," she began softly. "We're both okay so please calm down, you're scaring me." Jiā flinched as she felt Tetsushi grab her arms roughly, bring her closer to his body. "I'm okay," she told him, her voice almost at a shout. "Tetsushi I'm okay. Please stop! YOU'RE HURTING ME!" she screamed at him as the fire pressed onto her legs. Instantly Tetsushi reverted back to normal, somewhat dazed as the fire disappeared in a second. Pulling Jiā close to him, his eyes darted around everyone. Then out of nowhere arrows began to rain down on him. Lifting Jiā into his arms, he fled into the forest, ignoring the cries of that it was safe there. The only thing on his mind was that Jiā was hurt and he was the one that had hurt her, again.

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**AN: Please Please Review. They make me very happy! And a happy author means more chapters.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Tetsushi walked slowly to the edge of the lake, Jiā still wrapped in his arms. Walking, he ignored the pain that shot through his legs as the water touched his skin. Slowly he lowered her small frame into the water, it's currents covering all of her body but her face, which he held up. Tetsushi watched as the burn marks covering her body disappeared. He repositioned Jiā onto his lap and slowly began to poor water onto her face causing her to stir. Opening her eyes she closed them instantly as the slow, small stream of water splashed on her face. "Just a bit more," Tetsushi 's voice was forced, as though he couldn't even bare to look at her. Jiā slowly sat up and shook her head, spraying off the excess water.

"You should get out, the waters they don't like you," her voice was small and hoarse.

"This pain is nothing compared to the pain you suffered on my account," Tetsushi explained, lifting her and bringing her out of the water. "You shouldn't run up to me like that."

"Then who would stop you before you accidently killed someone?" Jiā asked as she leaned against the tree.

"I wouldn't care so long as it was anyone but you," Tetsushi answered.

"But I'm the only person who you can't kill with your fire," Jiā reasoned as she showed him the silver band she always wore. "So long as I wear your ring I won't be killed. I can be hurt but I won't die and that better than someone dying isn't it?"

"Yes," Tetsushi answered slowly.

"What happened after I passed out?" Jiā asked, looking at him with large eyes.

"Men on dragon back arrived and they began to fire at us," Tetsushi explained.

"Why would they attack us?" Jiā asked, confused.

"I don't know," Tetsushi answered through a yawn.

"Sleep," Jiā ordered. "I'll take the first watch."

* * *

"It's been a week," Stella sighed as she looked over at the other six girls in the room. "They're not coming back."

"We still have to find them," Flora began. "Jiā was hurt so much."

"What that her name?" Bloom looked at her skeptically.

"I think so," Flora answered modestly.

"What should we do?" Musa asked as she sat down in a chair backwards.

"Ms. Fargonda asked me to tell my parents about them. Get the word out. We still don't know if they're a threat or not," Tecna explained.

"I don't think they are," Flora began. "I mean Jiā stopped Tetsushi from burning down the school."

"At the price of her own health," Layla added.

"Something tells me they're still in Magix," Bloom interrupted, looking out the window.

"Why?" Roxy asked walking to Bloom's side.

"Because of those."

* * *

"Tetsushi wake up!" Jiā shouted as she shook her friend.

"What's going on?" Tetsushi startled awake, pushing Jiā behind him.

"There is an army of Dì Qiú here," Jiā explained her voice not above a whisper.

"Like here in the area or here in this world," Tetsushi questioned.

"Here in this world," Jiā answered immediately.

"Stay behind me," Tetsushi instructed as he stood up. Jiā nodded and began to follow him through the forest.

* * *

Bloom shot another spell at the weird creatures, hoping to keep them from climbing up the walls. Behind her she heard a grunt as Tecna fell to the ground. A creature raised a hand towards her and shot black goo at Tecna. The goo instantly began to enlarge and consuming her entire body. Bloom rushed down and continued to shot spell after spell at the goo, making it only grow larger.

"Stop! You'll make it suffocate her!" Bloom whirled around only to be passed by a flying Tetsushi. His arms lit on fire as two columns of fire began to rain down on Tecna, effectively freeing the girl. Tecna instantly took to the skies as Tetsushi began to burn creature after creature. Though the effort seems to do nothing as more and more creatures sprang from the ashes. "They didn't used to do that," he gritted though his teeth as he took higher into the skies. Bloom looked at the Dragon Fire Tower to see Jiā effectively throwing her knife at the creatures and then pulling her knife back up to her grasp quickly.

"How do we defeat these things?" Stella cried in frustration.

"You do nothing," the voice was cold and a bit high for a man. Bloom looked to the ground to see a young feminine looking man standing with the creatures advancing towards him. Smirking just before they reached him, a large hole in the earth appeared and began to pull the creatures into itself before closing up.

"How did," Jiā began before running and hugging the boy. "You're alive?" she asked in astonishment.

"I'm not the only one," he smirked gesturing to the side with his head. Jiā squeaked before running and hugging the new larger man.

"Tenji , Kaze what are you doing here?" Tetsushi asked as he landed on the ground and walked over to the pair.

"What does it look like we're doing?" the feminine one asked.

"Kaze?" Jiā looked at the larger man in hopes for an explanation.

"We escaped from prison," the larger man, Kaze, answered shrugging.

"But no one's ever escaped from the prison before," Jiā stated, amazed.

"We're not the only one's either," the small more feminine one, apparently Tenji, told her smirking.

"Who else?" Jiā's eyes lit up in surprise.

"BROTHER!" Tetsushi went ridged at the sound of the screaming voice. Before he even had a chance to move, Tetsushi was forced to the ground by a man with long bright red hair that was a good head taller than Tetsushi.

"Seji must you be insufferable now?" Tetsushi 's voice was nothing short of extremely annoyed as he looked at the older man who bared some resemblance to himself.

"Tetsushi?" Jiā asked uncertainly.

"Jiā this is my brother I was telling you about," Tetsushi gritted though his teeth. Tenji burst out laughing as Seji began to affectionately caress Tetsushi 's face.

"What's wrong with him?" Stella whispered to Bloom as they watched the two.

"SHHHHHHH!" Tenji yelled at them. "You'll ruin the best part." Abruptly Seji was at the other end of the courtyard, his hair on fire but, not being harmed.

"Why?" Seji's face transformed into an adorable pout.

"Um," Ms. Fargonda interrupted as she stepped forward to the group. "Who are you?" The group of foreigners gave off shy smiles before lining up and bowing parallel to the ground.

"Jiā."

"Tetsushi."

"Tenji."

"Kaze."

"Seji."

"Why are you here?" Ms. Fargonda continued.

"Well you see ma'am," Jiā stepped forward. "We need help. We need it so desperately in fact that if we don't get help our country will die."

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**AN: Please Review! They make me happy and me happy means more chapters!**


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: This was originally chapter 4 but I added a note about all of the name changes that were driving me up a wall as chapter one. I suggest you go back to chapter 1 and re-read so you know all the new names. I'm sorry if this confuses you so please feel free to message me if you have any questions about who is now who. **

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**Chapter 4**

Jiā sat down on the ground, looking around herself. She found herself not trusting the people that were talking to Tetsushi. "You don't need to worry," Seji came up behind her. "He can protect himself."

"It's not him I'm worried about," Jiā answered slowly. She looked up at the older man, her eyes sad. "I can't use my magic, it's blocked." Her voice was small as she told the shameful truth.

"Since when?" Seji was shocked and a bit startled by the surprising news.

"Since I watched my parent's die," her voice was small, her eyes never leaving Tetsushi 's confident form.

"Don't worry," Seji smiled as he looked down at her.

"SEJI !" an angry scream erupted through the grounds as the air turned freezing in an instant. Seji began to tremble in fear as he looked to the sky. Jiā followed his lead and was surprised to see a storm coming over head.

"Seji what did you do now?" Tetsushi sighed as he walked over.

"I might have used Izera as bait when we escaped from prison," Seji answered slowly.

"Are stupid?" Tetsushi looked at his brother with shock. "You used Izera, your crazy and murderous fiancée, as a distraction to escape from prison!" Tetsushi could only look at Seji in shock with a face that clearly read _'are you that stupid!'_ plastered to his face. "IZERA PLEASE DON'T KILL ANYONE!" Tetsushi screamed to the skies as he pulled Jiā away from Seji.

"What's she gonna do to him?" Jiā asked in a small voice.

"Hopefully put him in a hell of ice," Tetsushi gritted. "Idiot."

"Is Izera really that bad?" Jiā looked back to the skies.

"You have no idea."

Out of the ground mountains of ice began to protrude as a young woman with short light blue hair came into sight. She has a face that could only be read as incredible and undeniable fury. Around her the air was beginning to turn to ice. "How mad did he make her?" Tenji asked looking back at the shadows where a young woman with long black hair and a dark red dress stood.

"He used her as live bait," her voice was nothing above a whisper yet, could be heard across the courtyard, "How mad do you think she is?"

"I've got a bone to pick with him too," Kaze sighed. "He ruined or perfectly fool proof plan."

"IZERA YOUR SHOTS ARE GOING ALITTLE TO THE LEFT!" Tenji shouted to the skies.

"Did you have to that?" Jiā sighed.

"Hey," Tenji defended. "Because of him I almost ended up shot."

"What's going on?" Bloom asked slowly.

"Seji made Izera mad, again," Tenji sighed. "Don't worry it'll be over in a minute, look." The skies were covered in ice crystals that were continuously firing themselves at Seji who did nothing to protect himself. In quiet a comical sight he was running around screaming for mercy trying to avoid the flying crystals.

"IZERA YOU'LL KILL HIM!" Jiā screamed to the skies, her face covered with fear. Izera looked at her confused before relaxing and floating to the ground. Slowly she began to walk over to Jiā smiling.

"It's only a game we play. I'm sorry for scaring you Gōng Zhǔ," Izera replied smiling.

"It's only a game," Seji assured.

"It's not a very safe game," Jiā mumbled as she watched the pair walk away hand-in-hand.

"Nothing about those two is safe," Kaze replied.

"Can we eat now," Tenji interrupted.

"Don't be rude," Kaze warned.

"I haven't eaten in two weeks. We left that place so we can eat. We left that place so we'd stop getting beat for being generous. WE left that place so we stopped getting tortured. We left that place so we could create HOPE. We can't be hope if we die of STARVATION! I'm hungry and if being rude will get me food, something we deserve and you know it, then I'll be RUDE!" Tenji began to scream as his temper began to falter.

"You're obviously not here to hurt anyone so come in. Dinner will be ready shortly," Ms. Fargonda smiled as she gestured to the building.

"What about the grounds?" Jiā asked.

"In the morning," Ms. Fargonda answered. "You seven look like you're about to drop dead on us. Clean-up can wait."

* * *

Jiā tried to block the harsh smell that came off the meat in the room. Tetsushi had tried to move the meat plates as far as he could but the tables were crowded with food. Just minutes ago Tenji had raced out of the room, holding his stomach and a hand covering his mouth. Jiā was half tempted to join him but she did quite have the urge to start vomiting yet.

"Jiā you need to eat," Flora encouraged.

"I'm gonna be sick," Jiā whispered and raised from her seat and sprinting away from the room.

Tetsushi watched Jiā as she sprinted away out of the room. "Dang it!" he muttered under his breath.

"What was that about?" Stella looked at him as he stood and began dishing up a small plate of salad.

"When someone in our immediate family dies we physically lose the ability to eat meat. It can make a person who can't eat meat sick by just the smell. Tenji and Jiā have both lost their parents and can no longer eat meet. If you'll excuse me," Tetsushi excused himself as left the room. Walking out of the room he saw Kaze walking into the dining room. "Tenji made himself sick by the smell of meat," Tetsushi told Kaze.

"He didn't eat anything did he?" Kaze asked alarmed.

"Not that I know of," Tetsushi answered.

"Alright, I'll go find him," Kaze began to turn around. "Thank you."

* * *

Kaze walked quickly through the halls, his eyes darting around the area looking for Tenji. "Tenji!" he called again. The sound of groaning met his ears as he sprinted down a hallway. He relaxed at the sight of Tenji bracing himself on the wall, panting slightly. "If it was too much you should have left earlier," Kaze told him, smirking.

"And look weak," Tenji looked at him with a look that clearly read 'are you stupid.'

"You wouldn't look weak by taking care of yourself," Kaze reminded him as began to rub the smaller's back in comforting circles.

"What's got you on edge?" Tenji asked as he regained his color.

"You look like yourself," Kaze smiled, whispering.

"Damn it," Tenji whispered as magic surged through his body.

* * *

Jiā sat in the chair in Ms. Faragonda's office, fidgeting. The room's eyes were on her as she tried to find a way to explain her reality for the past two years. Something about all the people in the room was intimidating her, making her unable to speak. She was shocked by the placement of a strong and sturdy hand on her shoulder. Looking up at Tetsushi she relaxed, no longer feeling the eyes of the other people in the room. "It was two years ago," Jiā began as she turned to face Ms. Fargonda. "My uncle had been named king some months before and one day the streets of every city were filled with Dì Qiú soldiers that were arresting people left and right. Within two day more than 75% of our people were locked away into a giant prison. Those that remained went into hiding. A week ago, all but those that you see before have been locked away. Even though it is forbidden to travel here, we had no choice. Our lands are dying and there is nothing we can do. We are too weak now. Our home will die by Christmas if we don't do something. And if our home dies than we'll disappear to limbo, forever." Jiā was quiet as she retold the haunting story.

"Why didn't anyone stop your uncle?" Tecna asked looking to Jiā. "Before any of this happened, why didn't anyone stop him?"

"Because I didn't know what I was reading," Jiā answered her voice small. "I didn't know how far gone he was." Jiā began to look at her hands. "I was too young." Abruptly she rose from her chair and bolted out of the room.

"You'll have to excuse Jiā," Tetsushi began as his eyes followed her running frame. "She was really young when she lost her parents and it's affected her in ways we couldn't have predicted. She was too young to understand that her uncle, the person she had treasured the most, had become a monster. If you will excuse me." Tetsushi left not quite at a run but, swiftly.

"Girl's I want you to host Jiā in your dorm. Boys I'll talk to Saladin and see if you can't host Tetsushi. For the rest of you we'll try to find you a place in Magix," Ms. Fargonda instructed. The room nodded in agreement as Ms. Fargonda looked out her window to see Jiā sprinting across the courtyard and into the forest.

* * *

Jiā collapsed against a tree, tears threating to spill. "Mom, dad," she whispered as she hugged her knees. "I'm scared."

"You don't have to be," Jiā looked up to see Tetsushi standing in front of her, panting slightly. "Why'd you run?"

"Bad memories threatened to creep up," Jiā whispered as Tetsushi sat down next to her and swung an arm around her.

"We have to go back in soon," Tetsushi reminded her.

"I wanna sleep here tonight. They can see us from the edge of the school," Jiā whispered as she turned into Tetsushi 's shoulder. Tetsushi sighed in agreement as he maneuvered himself into a comfortable lying position then opened his arms to allow Jiā to lie next to him. "Will you stay the whole night?"

"I always will," Tetsushi whispered back, burying his face in her hair.

* * *

**AN: Please review. Reviews make me happy and you know what that means.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Jiā eyed the ship that was supposed to take Tetsushi to Red Fountain. Jiā didn't like the idea that this machine was supposed to take her best friend to another place that apparently wasn't attached to the ground. "I don't trust that thing," Jiā whispered to Tetsushi. "I don't like the idea of being separated either."

"I don't either, but we need their help and their trust," Tetsushi reminded her.

"Why are we following their orders like slaves then?" Jiā asked.

"We have to blend in; we have to learn their customs. To do that, we need to immerse ourselves in their ways. This is the easiest way to do that," Tetsushi told her. "Stay safe and I'll leave Ti with you."

"Alright," Jiā agreed as she took the silver chain and placed it around her neck. "Have a safe flight." She whispered.

"I'll contact you when we get there," Tetsushi promised as he climbed aboard the ship. Jiā watched as the ship took off into the air and disappeared from sight.

"Don't worry. The ships never failed before," Flora told her as she rubbed Jiā's shoulder encouragingly.

"I just don't like what I don't know," Jiā whispered back.

"That's a natural reaction; you've been through a lot it sounds like," Tecna replied.

"I have," Jiā whispered in response.

"Well enough with the drabby talk. Let's go party. The sun's already going down anyways," Stella called to the group as she began to race into the rooms. The rooms had been exactly like what Jiā had expected, large and cluttered with many things.

"Jiā you're going to be rooming with Bloom and me," Flora told her as she opened one of the doors across the hall. Inside were large plants and two beds. Jiā could easily tell Flora's side from Bloom's side if the plants were everything to go by. In the corner was a small bed that wasn't lifted off of the ground with white blankets on top.

"Jiā we'll start getting everything ready and finish our homework while you take a nice long bath. No offense but, you look like you need it," Stella showed her into the only bathroom in the dorm. Jiā poked her head into the room before walking in.

"Thank you," Jiā whispered before shutting the door.

"She's very nervous," Tecna observed.

"Tetsushi did mention that she had social and trust issues," Bloom recalled.

"It's been a long day. Let's just try to make her feel comfortable. She'll relax a bit over time," Layla suggested.

* * *

Jiā let the water spray onto her back. She assumed that the girls outside would need some time to get everything done that they needed to. She planned to take a shower and scrub herself really well then to relax in the large bath that was just adjacent. Feeling the water hitting her small frame, she felt the tension that was coiled in her muscles leave her. Picking up a soap bottle and reading the label, she began to scrub herself with it. The soap had a light citrus scent to it, something that Jiā enjoyed. Soon after a few minutes of scrubbing she let the water rinse the soap and the dirt out of her hair. Then she began to repeat the process with her body. Just as soon as she turned off the water and stepped out of the small shower she heard a knock at the door. Pulling one of the large towels around herself she signaled that the person could come in.

"Jiā?" Flora poked her head into the door.

"You can come in I don't mind," Jiā told her as she sat on the side of the tub.

"I was just wondering if you were okay," Flora walked into the room slowly.

"It's just been a long day," Jiā answered.

"I can tell. You're still really tense. Did you just take a shower?" Flora asked looking at the empty bathtub.

"Yes," Jiā answered. "I had originally planned on taking a bath too but it took longer for me to scrub off the dirt than I expected. I don't want to waste any of the water."

"It's fine," Flora smiled while turning on the tub allowing it to fill with warm water. "I have a natural herb here that helps with relaxing." Flora told her as she put some leaves into the water. "Stay in the tub as long as you like. Here are some clothes that you can wear at night. Tomorrow Stella wants to take you shopping since you don't really have anything to wear. We'll talk to tomorrow, just relax for tonight."

"Thank you Flora," Jiā called after the girl as she was about to leave.

"You're welcome," Flora smiled at her.

* * *

Tetsushi lay back onto his new bed. The sheets were plain but he preferred it that way.

"Tetsushi this is going to sound like a weird question but, are you dating Jiā?" Sky asked as he looked over at the bed.

"No we're just friends," Tetsushi answered without looking at them. "Do you guys mind if I hit the hay?"

"No, go ahead," Brandon shrugged.

"Night," Tetsushi said as he turned into the wall.

* * *

"Stella to be frankly honest I hate everything that you're putting me in," Jiā answered as she looked out of the fitting room curtain.

"Well why not? They're the latest trends," Stella countered.

"Stella I'm 16 not 24," Jiā sighed. "All these clothes not only don't fit right but they're to reveling on top of that."

"What do you suggest we do?" Stella asked.

"Go to a different store," Layla suggested.

"But, we've already been to hundreds. Can't we just call it a day?" Jiā begged.

"Not until I make you look fabulous," Stella answered as she dragged the small girl out of the store.

"Then can we try another method?" Jiā asked.

"And that would be?" Stella looked back at the girl.

"Follow me," Jiā replied as she dragged the girl into a shoe store.

* * *

"We're the girls supposed to be here ten minutes ago?" Riven looked over to Timmy as they sat in the juice bar.

"Yes," Timmy answered, his eyes wandering to the glass doors.

"Well you can't rush perfection Riven," Stella countered as she walked past him and to Brandon.

"Did you find something for Jiā to wear?" Tetsushi looked over at the blonde.

"Yes, and I can't believe that we got something that cute while starting with a pair of black flats," Stella cried, exasperated. "She broke every rule of fashion and it ended up fantastic."

"Stella, that's how I always used to shop. I hate trying on shirt after shirt for a color so I've always started at the feet and worked my way up," Jiā explained as she sat down next to Tetsushi.

"You look good," Tetsushi smiled at her.

"Thanks, you to," Jiā smiled before she laid her head on her arms.

"So what's the plan now?" Brandon asked, looking at Stella.

"Rest," Stella sighed as she plopped onto a chair.

"I'll be back," Jiā whispered to Tetsushi. Jiā slowly walked out the door of the juice bar and stared at the sky.

"What is it?" Tetsushi walked up behind her, startling her.

"Um, nothing. I think," Jiā whispered to herself.

"That's not nothing," Tetsushi hissed as he saw the woman floating in the sky, cackling.

* * *

**AN: Okay. I'm sorry this is really short. I have no inspiration right now. I'll be updating this story every Friday (hopefully) since I'm now out of school. So please wait patiently and please please review. I really need to know how well I'm doing. **

**Thanks**

** ~Ashe**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Bloom heard crashes outside as Tetsushi pushed Jiā into the room. "Everyone out! NOW!" Tetsushi barked as Jiā picked herself off the floor.

"What's going on?" Stella asked as another explosion sounded.

"We'll explain later," Jiā answered. "Right now you guys just need to get back to Alfea."

"Sky is Red Fountain likely to respond to a distress call like this?" Tetsushi looked over to the older boy.

"Yes, Alfea is likely to as well," Sky added.

"Damn," tetsushi muttered as he looked back out the glass doors. "Where's the back door?" he asked looking at the bartender.

"This way," the man answered coming onto the floor.

"Alright Sky, Brandon, Riven, and Timmy I want you to lead everyone out the back entrance. Try to get a hold of Helia and tell him not to let any ships leave Red Fountain. Winx Girls fly back to Alfea and tell everyone to stay where they are. We don't need any deaths on our hands," Tetsushi ordered. "And if the Headmasters put up a fight then tell them we'll explain everything later." The groups nodded and left the building.

"Tetsushi are you sure?" Jiā asked looking at him.

"Yes, they wouldn't stand a chance," Tetsushi answered.

"And you do? Tetsushi, we're talking about the Demon Witch here!" Jiā countered.

"I know I don't stand a chance," Tetsushi began as he rubbed the side of her face. "But, if someone has to get hurt it should be one of us, one of our own against one of our own." Tetsushi whispered quietly as he couldn't tear his gaze away from her bright purple eyes. "I want you to help the people that are trapped in her mess out there. Stay hidden. I'll draw her attention away from you."

"That's suicidal!" Jiā exclaimed.

"I'll be fine. I have Seji, Izera, Dreara, Kaze, and Tenji helping me," Tetsushi assured her.

"Tell them no one's allowed to die," Jiā ordered as she walked to the door. "I can't heal anyone right now." Tetsushi nodded as he sprinted out the doors. Jiā took a deep breath before following him outside. In the street Kaze and Tenji were jumping repeatedly into the air trying to land a hit on a woman dressed in pure black with bright silver hair and eyes. Dreara and Izera placed large crystal and ice columns around the battle area in hopes of keeping the Demon Witch contained. Looking to her right, she spotted an older couple hiding in the shadows of the building. Running over to them Jiā leaned over. "Come on," she ordered, "you have to get out of here." The couple nodded as she guided them away from the fight. Looking back at the fight she was surprised to see the crystal and ice walls coming down and Kaze and Tenji walking towards her with minor injuries. "What happened?" she demanded.

"I showed up to the fight and she flew off," Tetsushi answered.

"Why would she just abandon the battle?" Jiā asked.

"You guess is a good as ours," Tenji shrugged.

* * *

"That was boring," the Demon Witch whispered to herself. She was floating high above the city of Magix watching the small group walk back towards the forest. She eyed Jiā's snow white hair, smirking. "We meet again, Gōng Zhǔ." She turned and flew off into space. "Who would make a good apprentice?" she muttered to herself. "Baltor?" she asked herself as she watched the spaces show her reruns of Baltor's take-over of Tides. "No too . . . egotistical," she sighed erasing the images by running her arm through them. "Darkar?" she asked herself watching reruns of the Shadow Lord's kingdom. "No too . . . stupid," she growled. "Men are useless. I need a woman with ambition. One who won't become a boy clinging idiot. Someone with drive," she muttered as space showed her reruns of the Trix's invasion of Magix with the army of Decay. "Or maybe three somebodies," she muttered smirking. Then as soon as the images disappeared, so had she.

* * *

Darcy threw the speaker at the tree for the thousandth time. "Break damn it!" she screamed as she collapsed onto the ground.

"Quit your witching Darcy," Icy growled.

"What you like that stupid song?" Darcy countered.

"No but i really don't want to return to my room early because you decided to try to break stuff again," Icy countered.

"This is the second time were stuck in this happy house," Stormy whined. "You'd think they'd learn that this isn't gonna work."

"You'd rather be stuck in our rooms again?" Icy challenged.

"If i don't have to listen to that stupid song then yes," Darcy growled.

"I must agree with you, that song is quite annoying," a voice called behind them. The tree witches turned to look at the woman draped in a black Victorian dress.

"What are you supposed to be?" Icy asked, snickering.

"Your jail breaker," she answered.

"In that outfit?" Stormy huffed, amused.

"Would you like a demonstration of what I can do?" she asked, not offended by Stormy's comment.

"What kind of demonstration?" Icy asked, intrigued.

"Perhaps Cloud tower flattened in minute flat?" the woman asked.

"You can do that?" Stormy asked.

"That and so much more," the woman whispered. "Come I'll show you." she added, opening a portal straight to Cloud Tower.

"We can't fly," Darcy grumbled.

"Not a problem," she smirked and waved her hand. coursing through their bodies, the three witches felt their powers return ten fold. "Come," she instructed flying threw the portal, the witches at her heels. The three witches were astonished at being outside of the prison without alerting the guards. "Destroy yourself. Tumble to the ground. Crash in on your own walls." She casted as jet black magic sprung from her hands and hit Cloud Tower. The tower began to shake violently before caving in on itself. Within seconds, it stood in a pile of rumble, the staff and students trapped. "Impressed?" The witches could only nod in agreement. "Come you need rest," she ordered flying through another portal, the witches following her like puppies.

* * *

**AN: Alright people I'm sorry this is two days late I've been so busy. Also I really didn't know how I wanted this chapter to go so it's really short I'm sorry. I promise I'll be on time and have a really juicy chapter for you next Friday as an I'm sorry gift. Please comment, rate, review and all that other stuff that your supposed to do. I know there are a lot of silent readers out there so please please comment. I'll also take any ideas people have but I don't guarantee that I'll use them. Also for those of you who were wondering why stormy was laughing at the Demon Witch this is similar to what she was wearing: . 56. **

**~Ashe**

**P.S. Please comment!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Jiā looked at the destruction of Cloud Tower. In the distance she could hear the Red Fountain ships flying towards the ruins. She felt like she was looking at her home. Slabs of wall were piled on top of each other as the shards from the broken windows littered the ground, creating invisible traps that could harm a person. Layla had been kind enough to give Jiā something to stand on, seeing as how standing on the ground wasn't going to be an option. When news of the tower's collapse had reached Alfea, Headmistress Fargonda had rounded up the Winx Girls, ordering them to go to the tower with Jiā tagging along. The first time that she had seen the girl's wings she was impressed. She was astonished by the sear size of the 'Believix' wings as the girls had called them.

"How do we get them out?" Flora asked, desperate.

"We don't," Jiā answered. "If we try to move the rubble, then the entire cave that they're in could collapse on top of them. No one's dead yet and we should keep it that way. Professor Griffin was smart. When she felt the walls caving in, she transported all of the students and staff to an underground cave for emergencies. The only problem is that the exit was destroyed in the collapse of the tower," Jiā explained.

"Are you sure?" Stella asked.

"Yes," Jiā answered. "It looks just like my home," she whispered to herself.

"What?" Bloom asked.

"Nothing," Jiā answered, shaking her head. "Here come the Red Fountain ships!"

"What happened?" Tetsushi breathed, flying down from the ship.

"The Demon Witch," Jiā answered. "They're still alive but, we have to dig them out soon. The entire thing will topple on them though if we're not careful."

"Then what do we do?" Tenji asked coming out of the forest.

"I don't know," Jiā answered, hanging her head.

"I do," Kaze called from a bit a ways away. "We can dig out a new exit. Tenji and I can move the rock out creating a pathway. Izera and Drenara can reinforce the walls of the exit with their combination of ice and crystal. Finally all of us can go down and help evacuate them," Kaze told everyone standing around.

"Are you sure that's gonna work?" Timmy asked, skeptical.

"Not one of my plans has ever failed. I don't plan to have them start now," Kaze answered as he stood a good five feet from Tenji. "Ready?"

"Ready!" he answered back. Taking a deep breath, the rocks in front of them began to rise into the sky and create a tunnel that the two entered. Izera and Drenara followed behind, lining the walls with a mixture of the blue ice and light purple crystals. Soon they had broken into where the witches were stuck. Though they were battered and beaten they were alive and happy for the rescue. Soon all of the witches began to slowly emerge from the path. The last to come out was Professor Griffin.

"Fargonda, Saladin," she began as she walked to the two leaders that had arrived as they were digging the tunnel, "I thank you for helping us."

"Don't thank us Griffey," Fargonda began. "It was our guests who got you out." She gestured over to the people of the stars that were looking at the wreckage.

"Hey Bloom," Jiā called looking back over at the group.

"Yea?" the girl asked, flying over.

"Didn't you say that fairy dust could reverse any dark magic?" Jiā asked.

"Yeah why?" Bloom asked, the other Winx girls flying over.

"Well if we're right and this was the Demon Witch, then your fairy dust should be able to put the building back together since the Demon Witch uses dark magic. The only thing that I'm worried about is that she uses the darkest form known to our world."

"It's worth a shot," Layla shrugged.

"Ms. Griffin do you think it will work?" Bloom asked looking over to the old witch.

"It might," Ms. Griffin sighed. "If Jiā is right and the magic that this Demon Witch uses is darker than the dark magic that is infused with the walls of Cloud Tower, your fairy dust should only target that. Though we have to be careful, use too much and you might destroy Cloud Tower beyond repair."

"Then we'll just have to be smart about this," Tecna assured her.

"How much fairy dust do you think we'll need?" Stella looked to Tecna.

"I think just a bit from each of us should do the trick," Tecna said looking at her computer.

"Alright then Winx, let's go!" Bloom cried as she flew up into the sky, the others at her feet. They each joined hands and concentrated on letting out just the right amount of fairy dust from their wings. Soon the walls began to shake before correcting themselves into their rightful place as the Winx flew back down to the earth.

"We did it!" cried Musa in glee.

"Well done girls," Ms. Fargonda congratulated them. "Let's head back to our own school so that the witches can get Cloud Tower back into working order."

* * *

Icy, Darcy and Stormy looked around the castle that the Demon Witch had brought them to. "This is my home," she began, turning back towards them. "You are free to go anywhere you like except for the west wing. Those are my private quarters. I find any of you there and I will kill you in an instant." Her face was serious though the witches felt like they had no choice but to obey.

"We get it," Icy managed.

"Then you are free to look around," the Demon Witch smiled at them before walking up the stairs into the West wing.

* * *

The Demon Witch walked into a room only lit by candle light. Walking over to the bed she sat in the chair that was permanently situated by its side. Leaning to the floor she pulled a small black cloth from the bucket of warm water that was at her feet. Wringing out the cloth, she began to drag it along the side of the woman's face that was lying in the bed. The woman had Pale skin with a purple tint and pale purple lips. Her eyes were closed in sleep as she lay perfectly still. "I will take care of you till you may rise again," the Demon Witch whispered in her ear as she dropped the cloth into the bucket at her feet and caressed the side of the woman's face.

* * *

Jiā sat in the edge of the woods. She knew that she was visible from the gate but she still felt alone enough to think. "We are in over our heads," she whispered, leaning her head back against the tree that was behind her.

"What do you mean?" Jiā looked up to see Flora looking at her.

"It's just," Jiā began, slowly, unsure of what to say. "The Demon Witch, she has me worried."

"Why?" Flora asked, sitting down next to her.

"Just what she signifies," Jiā answered.

"Well it that – it's just that," Jiā struggled. "She was known for something when she was power years ago. Something bad and I don't think it's gone away."

"What was that?" Flora asked, slightly confused.

"She was known as Death's Lover," Jiā whispered. "I'm just worried that the nickname it still true."

"What happened?" Flora asked, alarmed.

"Legend says that she was born without a power. So to find power she sought it out. Legend says she met death and they fell in love and Death shared its power with her. Anything you can think of, she can make it a reality," Jiā explained. "I just hope the nickname's no longer true."

"I do as well," Flora assured her. "Come on, we're leaving to Red Fountain soon."

"They're still holding the test?" Jiā asked shocked.

"Apparently," Flora smiled as they began to walk back.

"Flora," Jiā began after a moment.

"Yes?"

"Please don't mention our conversation to anyone," Jiā asked.

"I won't."

"Thank you."

* * *

**AN: Okay I'm two days late, again. I am soooooo sorry. I'm really trying to be on time for you guys and am sucking miserably. Please comment so I know what people think or what they don't like. Seriously I know nothing about if you guys like the story or not so please comment. **

**~Ashe**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Jiā sat on Tetsushi's bed, laughing. "You've really heard that!" she exclaimed through the giggles escaping her.

"Yep. Many of the boys here think that we can't get married till we're 30," Tetsushi managed as he calmed down.

"That's just . . . that's so . . . just really," Jiā struggled as she thought about the statement. "Unorthodox, that's was that statement is, unorthodox," Jiā collected her thoughts as the giggles became suppressed. "What else have you heard?"

"Umm," Tetsushi thought as he looked to the ceiling. "Oh, the students from the class the Tenji and Kaze teach think that the two are brothers." The room was filled with laughter at the absurdity of the statement.

"If only they knew," Jiā sighed as she lay back on the bed.

"Yeah," Tetsushi agreed. "Though, the school will probably have a hernia when everyone finds out."

"Those two are going to get caught," Jiā breathed.

"And I'm gonna laugh when they do," Tetsushi answered.

"That's mean!" Jiā exclaimed.

"It's the truth though," Tetsushi shrugged his shoulders. "So I've been talking to Flora."

"Uh-oh," Jiā sighed as she buried her face in the covers.

"You've got to try to open up," Tetsushi sighed.

"No!" Jiā yelled. "They don't get me!"

"That's because you've given them no chance," Tetsushi reminded her. "I know you hate change and I know that you feel defenseless there but you need to open up. It could cost you your life if you don't."

"No it won't I can defend myself," Jiā whispered.

"Not as well as you used to," Tetsushi stated looking at her as she pulled the covers around herself and began to cocoon herself in. "Now stop that, there's no need to hide."

"I don't like it there. I can never understand what Tecna's saying because she has a vocabulary the size of the realms. All of Stella's stuff smells like her beauty products and I hate the smell of them. Musa and Layla are nice they leave me alone and understand that I'm not comfortable there. And Bloom keeps trying to be my friend and she's starting to get pushy!" Jiā whined through the covers.

"And Flora?" Tetsushi asked.

"I don't like Flora," Jiā whispered slowly. "She's a lot like my mom." Tetsushi watched as she poked her head out of the covers. Tetsushi sighed and understood.

"Just try to be around them. You don't have to talk to them," Tetsushi advised as he began to pull the covers off of her head. "Just sit in the same room as them." Jiā looked at him with her eyes contemplating the idea.

"Alright," Jiā agreed. "But I won't talk to them!"

"Just sitting with them will be enough for now," Tetsushi assured her.

* * *

Jiā sat on the sidelines of the arena. "Jiā!" Tecna waved at the Winx walked up the steps. Jiā gave a small wave back, remembering Tetsushi's words. "Have they started yet?"

"No," Jiā answered in a small voice. "They're about to begin. The boys are getting geared up."

"We're ready to go," Riven said from behind the small crowd.

"Who are you fighting?" Jiā asked.

"Tenji," Riven shrugged, "he looks easy."

"You'd be surprised. Tenji's one of the most feared fighters in our realm," Jiā said, using the Magix's language instead of her own.

"He's tiny," Riven countered. "He'll be easy pickings."

"Good luck then," Jiā sighed as Izera, Seji, and Drenara walked up. "Hi."

"You're doing better," Seji smiled as he ruffled her hair.

"I have a long way to go," Jiā shrugged.

"Who's going against whom?" Drenara asked.

"Sky and Kaze are the first match, followed by Riven and Tenji and then Tetsushi and Cordatorta. You're fights are this afternoon right?" Jiā asked.

"Yes," Drenara answered. "We'll be double teaming against the three teachers in Cloud Tower."

"Three against two?" Jiā asked shocked.

"You think we can't handle it?" Izera challenged.

"No, I'm worried about the teachers," Jiā answered as she started swaying from side to side.

"What are you doing?" Tenji asked as he, Kaze and Tetsushi walked up.

"I had to take Roca root last night," Jiā answered.

"I'm sorry," Tenji sighed, frowning.

"What's Roca root?" Flora asked interested.

"It's a sleep aid," Tetsushi answered. "Usually around three to four times a week Jiā has to take it since she has nightmare's and won't sleep."

"I'm sorry," Flora turned towards Jiā.

"I'm used to it," Jiā answered looking anywhere but the group. Soon Professor Saladin walked out onto the Arena.

"Welcome all guests!" he called out, his voice clearly enhanced by magic. "We are honored to have you here today. As you all know, just short of a month ago seven guests to our realms and have strung a terrible tale. Though with these guests came many worries from the different realms leaders. I am happy to announce along with Ms. Fargonda at my side that these guests dare us no threat and have in fact become a force that helps us all. Just two days ago Cloud Tower was destroyed beyond what was thought to be repairable. These guests with powers and skills very different from our own were able to manage to not only rescue all of the trapped witches inside but to enable the Winx Club to repair the building. Cloud Tower stands as proud as it always has once again. Upon the request of many leaders, this day has been organized to showcase what these people can do and this evening we will honor our guests with a performance of some of the finest cultural experiences Magix has to offer. Now without further a due please welcome King Sky of Eraklyon who as graciously volunteered to fight against Kaze. Both Sky and Kaze walked out onto the field.

"I didn't know you were a King," Kaze shouted.

"It's not something I advertise!" Sky shouted back.

"I have to warn you, you be fighting me but, I will not seem like myself," Kaze called loud enough for the crowd to hear.

"What?" Sky asked confused.

"You'll see!" Kaze shouted, smirking.

"Since when does Kaze smirk?" Stella asked looking at the strange facial expression.

"The fight is his trigger?" Jiā asked surprised.

"Adrenaline," Tenji answered. "But it's triggered at every fight."

"What can we expect?" Jiā asked as Tenji walked to the railing.

"Physically - enhanced strength and speed. Personality wise – a 180° flip," Tenji answered.

"Really?" Jiā asked shocked.

"He's in total control, just annoying," Tenji sighed.

"And do you fight with your," Jiā asked looking towards the feminine man.

"No," Tenji answered. "Mine's unruly."

"What are you talking about?" Layla managed through her confusion.

"Just watch the fight. We'll explain afterwards," Drenara explained.

Kaze smirked as he looked at Sky. Sky was unsure of what to make of him and that was understandable, he didn't know what Kaze would turn into when adrenaline hit his system. The change was already taking place, slowly, just from the excitement to fight. Kaze knew that Sky was a good fighter. When he had first arrived at Alfea, he had seen Sky holding his own and working at the guards. "Make this exciting won't you?" Kaze called, smirking. Sky merely smirked back.

"Will you need a sword?" a Scottish accent asked from beside him.

"I'm good," Kaze answered, rattling the sheath hanging from his back.

"Then let the fight begin!" Saladin shouted his voice still on magic. Kaze waited as Sky charged him, sword drawn. Reaching up to the handle of his own, Kaze balanced himself by taking a half-step back. When Sky was in front of him, swing, Kaze pulled the sword from its sheath, blocking the attack.

Sky had never seen a sword drawn that fast. He took a moment to understand the fact that his attack had been blocked and he had not seen the blocking movement. Jumping back a few feet, Sky regained his composer as Kaze smirked at him.

"One," Kaze baited as he smiled. "You have nine moves left before I attack."

Sky was confused by Kaze's statement but brushed it off and returned his focus to the battle. Kaze seemed different and it was setting Sky on edge. Letting out a battle cry, Sky charged at Kaze again only to be blocked by a maneuver he couldn't see. "Two," Kaze baited again his voice louder than the last time. Sky shifted his sword down and tried to strike at Kaze's leg only to have the attack blocked again. "Three," Kaze smirked. He looked as though he was enjoying playing with Sky, which was becoming irritating. "I expected more from a king," Kaze taunted. "You too easy to read." This made Sky feel even more irritated. He lashed out and tried to hit Kaze in a multiple strike attack, with no luck. He heard Kaze call out numbers four through seven in his ditch efforts to hit Kaze. Jumping back, Sky regained his head. He remembered that Kaze had told him after his first strike that there were nine chances to hit him left. Doing some quick math Sky found he only had three moves left before Kaze would go on the attack. Sky felt like he was playing a chess game not sparring. Thinking through his plan, Sky charged again and aimed for Kaze's head. "Eight," Kaze called out as he blocked the attack, again. Quickly Sky slid his sword off of Kaze's and aimed for the man's stomach only to have it blocked again. "Nine," the word rolled off Kaze's lips as he smirked. "One chance left." Sky turned his sword and aimed to strike Kaze head in hopes of knocking him out. Kaze threw his own sword into the air and grabbed onto Sky's sword as it came inches from his head. "That's ten," Kaze smirked as his sword landed in his other hand. "You're pathetic and done for," Kaze smirked and ripped Sky's sword from him. Sky felt himself being hit rapid fire as Kaze shouted more numbers in quick succession. When the number twenty left Kaze's lips he stopped and Sky fell to the ground. Groaning he felt sore and unable to move. The crowd was silent as they tried to understand what happened.

"Sky is unable to battle, Kaze wins," Saladin's voice cut through the silence. The crowd burst into a polite applause as Kaze groaned. He muttered something in a language that Sky assumed was his native one.

"You okay?" Kaze asked.

"Yeah," Sky replied, pushing himself up.

"Here let me help you," Kaze sighed as the pair slowly made their ways to the stands.

"That was incredible," Timmy stated amazed as the pair arrived at the section with their friends.

"Sorry about the loss Sky," Brandon said sympathetically as Kaze helped Sky sit down.

"I have to ask; what did you do?" Sky looked to Kaze.

"I used to blunt side of my sword to push you around the arena," Kaze shrugged as he sat down next to Sky. "The only injuries you'll have are bruising," Kaze added as he slid his sword into its sheath and laid it beside him.

"One minute fifteen seconds," Tenji told Kaze, holding out the stopwatch for Kaze to see, who was smiling.

"Drink up," Jiā's voice called as she thrust a small vile into Kaze's face.

"I hate this stuff," Kaze sighed as he opened the vile and downed the dark, thick olive green substance. Seconds later his face scrunched together in disgust.

"Did you use magic on him?" Jiā asked looking over at Kaze.

"No."

"Lucky you," Jiā began, "you don't have to drink swamp water." Sky looked at her weird as she sat back down, throwing Kaze's empty vial into a bag at her feet.

"Tenji and Riven are about to start!" Musa exclaimed. True to her word both were entering the arena.

Riven watched as Tenji stood in the middle of the arena, looking absolutely bored. "Can we start?" Tenji screamed up to Saladin. After receiving a nod from said professor, Tenji looked at Riven and smirked. "Scared yet?" Tenji baited.

"I'm not scared of anything," Riven countered.

"The cowards always say that," Tenji was abruptly in front of Riven, whispering. Riven jumped back, shocked at the sudden attack. "You have 25 seconds to land a hit. If you don't, the fight will be over in the next five!" Riven gritted his teeth trying to ignore the bait. Charging at Tenji he began to swing repeatedly thinking that Tenji couldn't dodge all of his strikes. Amazingly, Tenji danced in, out, and around his blade, smirking the entire time. "All brawn and no brains," Tenji sighed. "I wanted a fight, not a dance exercise." Riven felt his blood boiling as Tenji remained relaxed and untouched. His swing movements became more in consistent and Tenji merely yawned at the new pattern. "You're predictable," Tenji breathed. Riven reached up to strike Tenji's head. Shockingly, the blade stopped inside of Tenji's hand. "My turn." Tenji smiled in excitement. Ripping the blade from Riven's hand, Tenji sent the lightweight blade flying behind him. It imbedded itself into the wall across the arena. Then in Riven's momentary lapse of concentration, Tenji aimed a few quick hits and kicks to Riven's body effectively downing the man. The crowd once again burst into a polite applause as Saladin announced Tenji as the winner. "Come on," Tenji began to walk from the man. "Let's go."

"You're not going to help me up?" Riven stated.

"You don't want my help up," Tenji answered. "Do you?" Riven could only stay silent as he pushed himself off the ground and followed Tenji to wear the others were. When he arrived he was greeted by a gentle hug from Musa, which he gladly accepted.

"It was a good try," Musa whispered.

"I have to admit that was pretty cool," Riven sighed, "I could barely see some of those last strikes you made."

"Riven?" Brandon began "ACCEPTING DEFEAT?" he finished shocked.

"Tenji's a good fighter. I couldn't keep up. I respect him," Riven answered. Abruptly Seji broke out into forced back laughter as he sank to the floor. Tetsushi was also snickering under his breath. "What is so funny?"

"Nothing," Tetsushi managed. "I'd better get going."

"Good luck," Jiā called. Tetsushi merely looked back and smiled and waved.

"If he's anything like these other two then he'll be fine creaming Cordatorta," Brandon stated.

"Tetsushi never finished his training," Jiā stated as she pulled out two vials. "You used magic didn't you Tenji?"

"Yes," Tenji answered, "just enough to make the hand-to-hand combat hurt a bit more."

"Drink up," Jiā ordered as she handed him the vial. He grimaced at it but took it and reluctantly drank the substance.

"I hate those things," Tenji muttered.

"Unfortunately Riven," Jiā turned to him, "since Tenji used magic you're gonna have to drink one too. They're all natural and help your immune system handle the foreign magic."

"Just hand it over," Riven sighed as he held out his hand. Jiā placed the vile in his hands. She watched as he gulped it down and tried to spit up. "What is that stuff?"

"You don't wanna know," Jiā answered slowly.

"Tetsushi and Cordatorta are starting," Timmy stated as they all looked out to the arena. Tetsushi was slipping on a biker's glove while Cordatorta drew his own sword.

"What do you mean that Tetsushi didn't finish his training?" Bloom asked.

"Oh," Jiā remembered. "In our country, we train in small groups, usually one-on-one so that's how were able to fight like Tenji and Kaze showed you. Tetsushi's master passed away before he could finish training and then four years later we were forced to live in a cave."

"Who was his teacher?" Stella asked.

"My father," Jiā answered slowly, her eyes on the battle though no really watching.

"I'm sorry," Stella stated as she saw Jiā's expression.

"It's not your fault."

Bloom felt really bad for having upset Jiā, again. It seemed that's all they could ever do to the poor girl is upset her. Just yesterday they had tried to get her to play a game and accidentally brought up her mom. Two days earlier they had found Jiā cry in her sleep as she clutched the rings on the necklace she always wore. "It's not your fault." Bloom turned to look at Seji. "We even make mistakes too."

"I feel like all we're ever doing is hurting her," Bloom sighed.

"Jiā doesn't adapt to change very well. The last few changes in her life haven't been positive and have scarred her badly. She doesn't really know what to think anymore. Sue to your customs she's been forced to part with the one person that's always been constant and never changing," he stated, gesturing to Tetsushi's fight.

"She really trusts him," Bloom breathed.

"They knew each other long before everything went bad and he stayed to watch over here. Sometimes he wouldn't even come home," Seji explained.

"Why not?" Stella asked, joining the conversation.

"She needed him and he knew he had to help her no matter what," Seji explained.

"She's been through so much," Bloom sighed. "I wish we could help her."

"You're going to have to let her get used to you first. You can't push it, it takes time and patience with her," Seji explained. "She's very different from you girls in almost every aspect of life."

"Tetsushi's winning?" Tenji's shocked stamen brought the conversation to an end as they looked at the fight. What Tenji had said was true. Tetsushi was winning. He was swing rapidly while pushing Cordatorta back against a wall. Then in a last ditch effort Tetsushi aimed for Cordatora's face who leaned back to dodge, just as Tetsushi wanted. Cordatorta banged his head against the wall and knock himself out, making it so he was unable to fight. Saladin announced the winner and the crowd broke out into exited applause. Jiā smiled as she grabbed a vial and opened the gate to the stands as Tetsushi walked over, carrying Cordatorta with him. Handing off Cordatorta to other students Tetsushi walked into the stands only to be handed a vial.

"I'll check back later," Jiā warned as she smiled at him.

"We should do something for lunch," Brandon suggested.

"We brought food," Flora stated, "We could go have a picnic on the grounds."

"I like it, let's go!" Stella cried as she began up the stairs.

* * *

The large group was crowded on the grass, laughing at Seji who was getting yelled at by Izera when they heard the explosion. Looking up they saw the one thing they were unprepared for. Chāo.

* * *

**AN: Hey look I'm on time and its a super long chapter for you. I hope you all liked you're I'm sorry gift. I felt so bad about being late the last two posts that I had to work extra hard for you all. Like always please comment and review. I have to know what you're thinking. I'll have more chapters for you soon. **

**~Ashe**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The demon witch walked slowly into the room where the Trix was staying. "I have a job for you," she called out to them. The three witches looked at her, glints in their eyes.

"What can we do for you?" Icy asked, smirking.

"There is a girl in your world called Jiā. She is staying with the Winx girls. I need you to fight her without harming her. I've heard rumors that the girl is powerless and I must know if these rumors are true," the Demon Witch explained. "But she must remain unharmed, for the time being."

"We understand," Darcy assured the woman.

"Go and do not be alarmed if a man comes and starts to fight the girl as well," the demon witch smirked, taking her leave.

"Time to reap some chaos ladies," Icy smirked as they looked at the double glass doors. Stormy pushed them open with her magic and a portal to the under realm appeared.

Jiā sprinted across the yard, doing everything in her power to dodge her uncle's attacks. He was flying behind her, leisurely as she ran at full speed, hoping to dodge all of his frozen attacks. She could hear Tetsushi from her side, instructing her when to move. Desperately, she wanted nothing more than out of the tunnel of ice that Chao had created. Feeling herself falling, the small girl pushed herself to the side as gusts of wind tried to attack her. Looking up she saw three young women who she had never seen before.

"Who are you?" Chao growled at the woman.

"I'm Icy and this is Darcy and Stormy and we want to mess up the girl too," Icy informed the man.

"By all means," Chāo gave a sinister smile as he gestured to Jiā's shaking frame. "It's nice to have someone with the same goals. Ladies first."

"W-who are you?" Jiā managed as the woman flew towards her.

"Icy, Darcy, and Stormy. You can ask those pixies your staying with all about us," Darcy taunted.

"You work for the Demon Witch," Jiā breathed.

"That's right little fairy and she gave us cool powers," Stormy added.

"What are you going to do?" Jiā asked standing up.

"We're gonna mess with you," Icy smirked as the temperature in the air dropped. Jiā braced herself as the first of the attacks came, large icicles that came from Icy's outstretched hands. Waiting for the perfect moment, Jia sprung into the air while dodging each ice block. Landing on top of the pile gently, she saw the woman's confusion.

"You're going to have to do better than that."

Tetsushi watched in agony as Jia played a game of cat and mouse with the three new witches. "Who are they?" he called over to the Winx girls that were racing over.

"They're the three witches that we've had to fight all our years here at Alfea," Bloom explained. "There the linage of the three ancestral witches. Those bad people down here."

"We've heard of them. They coveted the Dragon's flame and destroyed Sparks, turning it to an icy waste land," Izera said walking up to the group.

"We should try to weaken Chāo while he's distracted," Tenji said gesturing to the man that was watching the battle below.

"Alright," Kaze said taking charge. "Naturally, Chāo was an ice type which means that Seji, Tetsushi are going to be our biggest assets against Chāo. Bloom and Stella can help there too. Chāo's a good fighter though. What I'm thinking is that all but Izera and Drenara attack Chāo at once, keep him distracted. Izera and Drenara, bolt through this wall and help Jia. She can't play chicken forever."

"Sounds good by me," Seji shrugged.

"Seji, Tetsushi transform into phoenixes, try to get his temperature up. Tenji and the Winx, hit him from all sides, confuse him. Also cover Seji and Tetsushi, they don't have the greatest sight as phoenixes. Also try to force him to the ground where the Specialists and myself will attack him physically," Kaze fine-tuned the plan. "Izera, Drenara I don't think I need to tell the pair of you what to do. We'll keep Chāo busy and out of your hair."

"Good luck," Izera called as the group left to surprise Chāo. "Ready sis?" Izera smiled as Dreanara's eyes lit up. They felt the magic in their veins course through them as they transformed into fairies.

_ Izera_

_ Izera felt the cold air of the abyss that she found herself in. Opening her eyes, her short light blue hair flew around her face as a light make-up began to decorate her face. Around her, long pieces of fabric glided around her, creating a tight form fitting dress that graced her knees and exposed her slender back. Small beaded high heels appeared on her feet. Finally, her wings grew from her back allowing her to take flight. _

_ Drenara_

_ Drenara lay sprawled across the crystal formations around her. A long black draping gown was flowing around her as her lilac hair that was twisting itself up at the back of her head. Out of her back grew large black wings that resembled a dragon's. _

Both girls touched to the ground as Jiā blasted against ice wall. "Jiā!" Izera shouted at the small girl.

"Blast it open," Drenara ordered as she backed away from the ice wall. Izera nodded as large cracks appeared in the ice. Breaking into the wall, Drenara pulled Jiā's unconscious form into her grasp and fell behind her sister.

"What are you supposed to be?" Stormy asked, flying over to the pair.

"Izera and Drenara," Izera smirked as she gaged the witch's power levels. "And we're fairies that are going to out match you."

"A fairy out match a witch, please," Icy sighed as she flew to Stormy's side followed closely by Darcy.

"You've never met fairies like us," Drenara challenged, Jiā hidden somewhere seeing as how the young girl was no longer present in her arms.

"Pixies are all the same!" Darcy yelled as she started the attack, aiming for Izera. The older woman merely sighed before gracefully dodging the attack. She looking back over to the witch draped in dark purple.

"You're right," Drenara smirked, the air around her growing dark, "Pixies are all the same but, fairies. Well, we're a whole another story." Darcy shivered as she felt the crystals growing on her skin, weighing her down. "Especially when you compare an over-world fairy with an under-world fairy."

"She's right. Under-world fairies can lose their wings so easily. You just freeze 'em. But, with us, well we're a lot more durable," Izera challenged. "Are you sure you want to continue fighting a fight that will only lead to your humiliation?"

"Bring it pixie," Icy challenged as ice crystals flew towards Izera. Izera merely smirked before sending the crystals back at their shooter. Shocked, Icy barely managed to dodge the attack and was caught in the downfall of large crystals that Izera sent to where Icy had fled. Drenara focused her attention on Stormy and Darcy. They were attacking her with the same attacks over and over again. Dodging the attacks gracefully, Drenara appeared behind them and shot giant crystals at them, pinning them to the ground.

"The other two are down," she shouted to Izera who nodded in response as she pinned Icy to the ground. Suddenly there was a loud crack through the air as the demon witch appeared through the portal.

"ENOUGH!" she commanded as the ice and crystal coving the grounds vanished. "Leave now!" she commanded to the witches who heeded her orders instantly. "I deal with you later," she promised looking over at Chāo, who to retreated as well. After she left the ground turned to their original forms.

"We have a lot of explaining to do," Jiā sighed as she saw the three headmasters racing towards them.

* * *

**AN: I'm zoo sorry this is so late, I haven't had internet for a week and I had no muse for this chapter. Next week I'll be back on my regular schedule. Please comment and review. I'll add more chapters if you do**

**~Ashe**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

Jiā sat in the hot spot of Ms. Faragonda's office once again. Crowded around the room were all of her friends, the Winx girls, the Specialists and the three headmasters. In the monitor on Ms. Faragonda's desk showed the rulers of some of the different worlds in the realms. "Where should I begin?" she asked looking at Ms. Fargonda.

"Just start where you want to," Ms. Fargonda smiled at the girl.

"We'll just start from the beginning of the day then," Jiā whispered to herself before turning to the Winx girl's. "You we're wondering why Kaze had a 180 degree personality flip when he fought Sky right?"

"Yeah," Bloom answered.

"Sky what did it feel like when you fought Kaze?" Jiā asked looking to the King of Eraklyon.

"To be honest if felt like I was playing a chess game. I never knew what I could do to land one hit on him and when I thought I had the right plan he'd block with a move I couldn't even see," Sky explained.

"The fact that you felt like you were playing a game of chess is because that's how Kaze fights. He's incredibly smart and a stratigical genius. He fights by planning out the next ten moves. While he was fought he counted didn't he," Sky nodded in confirmation, "that has to do with his mindset and his ability to plan out exactly how the battle will play out before it even begins. His reaction times are in part to that and in part to his second personality which enhances his strength, speed and reaction time – mostly just the physical aspects of fighting," Jiā explained to the group.

"What do you mean second personality?" Professor Griffon asked from her corner.

"Our Second personality is something that every person in our country has and learns to control, seeing as how commonly they are wild and have demonic tendencies. The way that they were explained to me while I was still in school was that our second personalities are more of a survival instinct than anything else. They usually come to the surface when we under extreme pressure or distress of some sort, normal affiliated by extreme emotions," Jiā added.

"So the cockiness was a survival instinct?" Sky asked, confused.

"Yes and no," Jiā began, "To really understand the second personalities you have to understand their history. Thousands of years ago your world was very similar to ours when nature ran the show and people were the servants to land - a concept that is the basis of our lifestyle but, a foreign idea in yours. But as the people of your world advanced in technology and thought some of those basic ideas, like the people serve the earth were lost. In an essence the earth died down here. At the same time in our world, because of your earth dying, ours was thrown into chaos and we were thrown into what is known now as the Thousand Year War. It was during this time of brutal blood shed and violence that they second personalities were born. They were created by the Mares, our version of the Elders Council here, and were given to each person in hopes that no one else would die. The second personalities were originally supposed to be peaceful ideas that couldn't be shaken and would activate under extreme stress and or emotion. Unfortunately with the violent tendencies of the time, the personalities were morphed into fighting machines. Many people today experience something similar to what Kaze does, enhanced physical strength in battle. Though there are some, like Tetsushi's which you have also witnessed, that have demonic tendencies and are very vicious. These personalities were created because of the high levels of blood shed after the personalities morphed. Knowing that these things were making things worse, the Mares tried to reverse the spell that had added the personality but failed. For years they tried to reverse the spell with each new generation but nothing worked so the mares were forced to put the entire population to sleep, known as the Ten Years Sleep in our history books. During this time the Mares cast a series of spells in hopes to change the personalities seeing as how they could no longer be removed. The spell worked for all the people, but very differently for each person. Kaze, Izera, and Drenara showcase the two most common types of personalities. The first, which Kaze has shown us, is a diluted form of the original morph of the personalities. It's said that these original personalities were very barbaric like and unforgiving. Diluted down, in Kaze's case, it comes off as cockiness and still has some of the barbaric traits like enhanced physical attributes. People who have this type of personality change often and have a lot of control over themselves while using their second personalities."

"For me it's adrenaline that makes me snap. During every fight I snap and fight as my second personality, which is affectingly called The Cocky General by people from my home star," Kaze explained.

"What about Dreanara's and Izera's?" Musa asked.

"The have the other most common type which is that your second personality is the exact opposite of yourself. These personalities were born from that during the war many people were going against what they firmly believed in for the entirety of their history and it caused things like emotional and mental instability. Usually they're brought out when a person feels extreme distress or discomfort. For the most part they're harmless and are a common thing to see on the city streets. Both of the common types are very easy to make the person snap back to normal and are very easy to control if they do get destructive," Jiā finished by taking a breath and looking around the room.

"What about the more demonic ones?" Ms. Fargonda asked looking over to Tetsushi. "Was that what all that fire was when you two first arrived. A Second personality?"

"Yes," Tetsushi answered for Jiā. "The more demonic ones are destructive and nearly impossible to control. Personally, my second personality is triggered by extreme hate and then once I've snapped I can't change back just by calming down. I'll only change back after I've exhausted myself and I collapse. The last time I seriously snapped was after people were starting to be imprisoned and I flatted over 20 cities to the ground before I finally collapsed about 45 minutes later."

"Demonic type personalities are destructive and uncontrollable. Many bad things in our history since the Ten Years Sleep have happened because people with demonic personalities snapped and they didn't change back quickly," Jiā began.

"Ho were you able to stop Tetsushi if he had snapped?" Bloom asked remembering how Jiā had been able to calm Tetsushi down when they had first arrived.

"For each demonic personally there is a short length of time where we are slowly losing ourselves to that personality. During that time we can be called back. For me that's only about 3 to 5 minutes. It's nearly impossible to make it in that time," Tetsushi shrugged.

"Who else out of you has a demonic personality?" Saladin asked.

"Just myself and Tenji," Tetsushi answered.

"You don't really have to worry about the demonic type personalities. To make a person snap who has demonic personality is hard. Because of the destructive power of them the Mares created a fail-safe. The emotion that they have to feel has to be consuming and destructive in it's nature. The only two times that Tetsushi changed were when his parents were killed two years ago and he flatten 20 cities and the second time was when he saw Chāo the person that caused his parent's death," Jiā explained.

"So in an essence the only thing that will cause a snap is the extreme of the extreme," Stella commented.

"Exactly," Jiā answered.

"What about you and Seji, which type of personalities do you have?" Professor Griffon asked.

"I have a demonic type but, I'm fully snapped," Seji explained.

"You mean that you're choosing to act like an idiot?" Tetsushi yelled at his brother.

"Yes," Seji answered smiling widely.

"Unbelievable," Tetsushi muttered.

"What do you mean fully snapped?" one of the world leaders asked.

"To put it lightly, I snapped so bad that my docile personality doesn't exist anymore," Seji explained. He began to laugh as the three teachers looked at, shocked. "Don't worry I have full control over myself. My demonic personality was a sadistic murder but, since I'm fully snapped I have complete control over myself. When a person fully snaps they either gain full control over both personalities, much like Kaze's situation but instead of being forced to snap at certain situations, I can choose when I snap. Also before I snapped fully I was kind of one of those people who killed to kill. Didn't really care about anything but killing. But, after fully snapping I retain my mind when I change back in forth, so I don't really kill anymore. I'm just really, really creepy now," Seji explained calmly.

"So there's no threat from you," Saladin gathered.

"Unless being stupid counts then no, he's not a threat," Izera sighed.

"What about you Jiā?" Ms. Faragonda asked.

"I don't have a second personality and no I don't know why," Jai answered as she sat down on the floor.

"I think that's enough for now on that subject, what about the attacks that happened today?" Ms. Faragonda asked looking to the girl on the floor.

"That's easy. The demon witch was bored and decided to make the Trix and my uncle attack us," Jiā shrugged.

"Wait your uncle is working with the demon witch?" Tecna asked, shocked.

"No," Jiā sighed, tears pooling in her eyes, "He's a puppet of the demon witch."


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Jiā sat on the tower that looked over the forest. Sighing she brought her knees closer to her body while closing her eyes. Memories of her parents and her uncle ran through her mind.

"There's nothing you could have done," Jiā looked over her shoulder at Tetsushi who was flying around the tower, his bright red and orange wings glistening in the night sky.

"There's nothing I can do but kill him," Jiā whispered back. "My uncle is so far gone and so far trapped in the spell that the only way to free him would be to kill him."

"Don't think of it as death," Tetsushi whispered.

"How can I not!" Jiā looked a him. "I have to drive a knife through my uncle's chest. I have to kill him if I want to save him."

"Then don't think if it as him," Tetsushi tried.

"I see his face and memories play across my head like a movie," Jiā sighed. "I'm just to weak, I can't stop him or save him."

"Stop worrying," Tetsushi sighed as he picked up her small frame, "and have some fun." He smiled before dropping with her. The pair began to laugh as Tetsushi pulled off death defying stunts with his wings. Soon he began to sing a child's song in their own language as Jiā rested her head against Tetsushi's chest.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"For what?" Tetsushi looked at her.

"For hurting you," she answered, jumping back onto the ledge.

"You're not hurting me," Tetsushi answered.

"I'm hurting your heart," Jiā responded.

"Hearts can heal," Tetsushi answered. "One last question."

"Yes?" Jiā asked sitting down.

"What would you do if I kissed you?" Tetsushi asked pecking her cheek and flying off.

"You know perfectly well that would never happen," Jiā whispered as she watched his decreasing frame.

* * *

The demon witch paced around the room, the pale girl still in the bed. "She has no magic," she whispered to herself over and over again. "The brat has no magic," she smiled as the thought sunk in.

"Do not get too excited," the demon witch looked over to the large black dog that was sitting at the foot of the other woman's bed. "You know that means she's locked away her powers."

"I know but, she's also defenseless," the demon witch answered.

"What are you going to do about the phoenix boy?"

"Pluck his wings," the demon witch shrugged as she walked over to the sleeping woman. Caressing her face gently, she smiled softly. "Soon," she whispered to her before leaving the room, locking the dog and the girl inside.

* * *

Jiā sat in the dorm room of the Winx girls, watching them. Stella was painting her nails and the smell coming from the bottle was beginning to make Jiā nauseous. Bloom, Flora, Layla and Tecna were grading papers and Musa was playing on her saxophone. Out of the six girls, Jiā felt like she could be friends with all of them, especially Flora, if she was willing to give them a chance. Scooting closer to the group of girls grading papers, she looked at the sheets. The exam had been over something called convergence and Jiā was quite confused. "What's convergence?" she looked up at them.

"Convergence is a fairy's ability to combine her powers with another's," Flora explained.

"You mean like how Izera and Drenara fight?" Jiā asked looking up.

"Yes, it's similar to that," Bloom answered.

"Jiā I don't mean to pry but, are you a fairy?" Tecna asked looking at the small girl.

"Yes," Jiā answered, "but I can't use my powers right now."

"Why not?" Musa asked putting down her saxophone.

"My uncle," Jiā answered laying down on the ground.

"What did he do?" Stella asked, walking over.

"He killed my parents right in front of me," Jiā answered.

"WHAT?" the other girls in the room exclaimed.

"It was 4 years ago," Jiā started. "My aunt had died earlier that year from an incurable decease. It hit my uncle really hard. Then randomly one night he came in and killed my parents. I had been sleeping with them and he hadn't noticed me in there with them."

"That's harsh," Musa breathed.

"The entire thing scared me so badly that I accidently locked away my powers," Jiā sighed.

"Then you only have the dagger to protect you?" Bloom asked.

"Yeah, it was originally Tetsushi's but he gave it to me once we fled into the caves," Jiā explained.

"So what's exactly up with your uncle," Layla asked.

"Well he didn't used to be so crazy. After my aunt died I think he become a puppet for the demon witch during some of his lower points, he had been really depressed. Think that the job was sealed when he killed my parents," Jiā explained.

"So he's a puppet for the demon witch then?" Flora asked.

"Exactly that," Jiā answered. "To stop the puppet spell you'd have to cut the strings. The only way to cut them in my uncle would be to stab him in the heart."

"You have to kill him to set him free," Tecna sighed.

"Yeah," Jiā answered.

"Isn't there anything else you could do?" Flora asked.

"Unfortunately no, that's the only thing that can stop him," Jiā answered as she began to hide herself in her knees.

"Lets head into Magix!" Stella piped up randomly.

"Why?" Layla asked.

"To take our minds off of depressing stuff," Stella answered with a smile.

"That actually sounds really nice," Jiā answered.

"Alright then, to Magix!" Bloom shouted.

* * *

The group of girls were sitting at a smoothie shop, laugh as Jiā gave herself a brain freeze, confused by the foreign drink.

"Do you not have cold drinks back home?" For a asked as she rubbed Jiā's throbbing head.

"Nothing this cold," Jiā answered. "We mostly drink tea."

"Only tea?" Tecna asked shocked.

"We have a lot more varieties than you do. Our teas are also really different, same with our pots," Jiā answered as she looked at Tecna.

"If we can find the things to make your tea will you make us some?" Bloom asked.

"Yes!" Jiā answered, smiling before large crashes drew the girl's attention. Racing from their seats, the girls raced towards the commotion only to come face to face with the demon witch. She seemed as though she was blowing of steam with her actions, just blatantly blowing up buildings all because she could. "Stop!" Jiā shouted at her, gaining the witch's attention.

"Or what you wingless fairy?" she asked landing on the road, her skirts swaying in the wind. The statement took Jiā back before she quickly regained her composer and focused on the woman in front of her.

"You don't have to have your wings to fight," Jiā gritted back while drawing her dagger from her back pocket. She charged at the woman, her movements light and jumpy, hard to follow. Jiā dodged as the demon witch began to shot back at her, dropping back a few paces. The Winx Girls took the opportunity to change forms before bombarding the demon witch with their own attacks. The demon witch turned her attention to the girls, a smirk growing on her face.

"Take to the skies!" Layla cried in horror as a large black goo began to seep from the cracks in the road and tried to overtake them. The only one who became trapped in the goo was Musa who was able to fly when the goo had leaped on her wings. It began to surround her and suffocate her.

"Let her go!" Jiā yelled as she raced to the goo and began to try to cut it away only from more goo to move into it's place. "You'll kill her!" Jiā shouted over her shoulder to the witch.

"You think I care," the demon witch sighed. "Do something to save your friend," she challenged as she created a large velvet chair to sit in. Jiā focused her attention on the goo that was growing larger by the second, separating Musa from herself more. Taking a deep breath she sliced the goo and jumped inside, working her way through the thick mass by cutting it and moving slowly. She could feel her lungs on fire and her vision growing blurry as the goo pressed down on her. Fighting her way through, she was shocked when a large power source threw the goo away and shot her back a few feet. Looking up she saw a woman with long blonde hair with red streaks sticking into the air slightly above her small, picecy red and black wings. She was clothed in a loose white dress and donned tights with black and white strips. Her gloves matched her tights as did her shoes, which looked like they were apart of the tights, that ended in long fluttering points. She was flying over the mess of goo that she had dispelled, Musa lying in her arms. Jiā instantly fell to the ground in a low bow as she recognized the woman.

"Yīn Yuè (音乐)," she breathed as looked up slowly. As the woman was flying over to her, Jiā slowly raised to her feet. The woman, Yīn Yuè as Jiā had called her, handed Jiā Musa before smiling at her and disappearing, correcting the destruction that the demon witch had left behind in her flee.

* * *

**AN: I'm so sorry that this is so late. I have had awful writers block with this part but going camping for a week has straightened out my head and my ideas so hopefully there will be more chapters soon. Please comment, review, favorite and all that jazz because they make me happy and if I'm happy I'll update more!**

**~Ashe**


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"You're sure that she wanted you to come?" Tetsushi pressed as the small group sat on the floor of the apartment that the other over worlders shared.

"Positive," Jiā answered, "Yīn Yuè said that the Queen of the Mares wanted to see us."

"Why?" Tetsushi asked puzzled.

"She didn't say," Jiā answered softly, "just that it had to do with the reason that our world is dying."

"Isn't it dying because Chāo is trapping our people in prisons?" Izera asked, leaning her head on Seji's shoulder.

"I've been thinking about that," Tenji interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Tetsushi looked at him.

"It just seems strange that our world is dying so fast yet none of us our dying," Tenji mused as he leaned back against Kaze.

"No one's been killed in the prisons?" Tetsushi asked, shocked.

"We were starving, hurting and thirsty, but we never died. No one ever has. They keep us alive, but very week," Kaze answered.

"So you're thinking that something else is killing our world?" Jiā asked.

"I'm not sure, but the facts don't add up," Tenji shrugged.

* * *

"Hey Tecna," Jiā asked, walking slowly into the girl's room.

"What's up Jiā," Tecna asked looking up from her computer.

"How do I get to Ms. Faragonda's office?" Jiā asked from the doorway.

"Here I'll take you, we were supposed to meet with her now," Tecna answered as she closed up her laptop. Jiā nodded as she followed the older girl out into the halls. Within minutes, most of which Jiā had zoned out for, they reached the door that housed the woman's office. Knocking on the door, Tecna entered in the room after prompted with a 'come in.' Jiā was happy to see that the other girls were in the room.

"Good morning Jiā, Ms. Fargonda smiled at her. "How have you been doing?"

"I've been good but something urgent has come up and I need your help," Jiā began.

"What's going on?" Ms. Fargonda asked, becoming alarmed.

"You remember what we told you about what happened to Musa in Magix," Jai began, Ms. Fargonda nodded, "I know the woman that saved us. Her name is Yīn Yuè and she is one of the mares, specifically the mare of music. She told me that the queen of the Mares wants to see me," Jiā finished.

"How do you plan to get home to them," Ms. Fargonda asked as she rose to look out the window.

"I don't need to," Jiā countered, "The mares live in an underwater place that can be accessed through a moon portal. I just need to know where the moon is harnessed as magic here."

"Solaria harnesses the moon, my mothers the queen of the moon," Stella answered.

"We have to hurry though, the full moon is what opens the portal and it's in two day," Jiā stressed.

"I'll call up Saladin, see if he can't get you a ride," Ms. Fargonda answered. "Go get ready to leave, you'll leave when your ride gets here."

"Thank you Ms. Fargonda," Jiā bowed before leaving the room.

* * *

Jiā watched as the Red Fountain ship landed on the ground in the courtyard of Alfea.

"I wonder who they got for our ride," Musa sighed.

"Stella," Jiā called over to the girl.

"Yeah?" the blonde looked at her.

"Please don't scream our ears off," Jiā smiled as the door opened and the specialists, joined by Tetsushi, Kaze and Tenji, walked down the ramp.

"So we're going to be going to your world?" Timmy asked after hugging Tecna.

"The mare's castle isn't technically part of our world it's in between yours and ours," Jiā explained.

"Then how do we get there?" Riven asked.

"We go to Solaria!" Stella exclaimed, excited at the idea of going home.

"How long will it take us to get there?" Jiā asked as they bordered the ship.

"About a day and a half," Timmy answered, taking his place at the controls.

"I'm going to hate this," Tenji muttered.

"Be nice," Kaze reminded him.

"Fine," Tenji snapped back.

"Must you be insufferable?" Tetsushi sighed looking to the sulking man.

"Yes," Tenji answered confidently, "I just found out that I'll be trapped on a metal death-trap for one and a half days."

"Timmy," Jiā called, ignoring Tenji's whining, "If there's anyway that we can get there faster we need to. We need to get to Stella's mother's place before the 1st full moon night."

"I'll get us there as fast as I can," Timmy assured her.

* * *

The inside of the ship seemed almost creepy to Jiā. She did quite understand how Timmy had made a ship of this size all on his own, but she figured that it had something to do with the fact that the underworld tended to do things with no help from the earth, a foreign concept to Jiā. Looking out the large windows, Jiā looked at all of the stars that she could see from the dark sky.

"Is that what your sky looks like?" Layla asked sitting next to her.

"No," Jiā answered, seeming almost in a trance, "The sky during the day is really black but we can see the other cities that are in the lights. It's kind of cool, almost like an optical illusion. The other lights from the surrounding stars give off a bit of light in the sky, making the sky seem a dark blue. During the night, your sun comes out and shines so all you see is white."

"It sounds amazing," Layla sighed.

"It is," Jiā sighed. "I miss it."

"What do your cities look like?" Tecna asked, joining the conversation.

"Our houses are all one story and small. They always have hard wood floors and have sliding doors. Our beds are very close to the floor. And very warm," Jiā added as a side note.

"They sound very simple," Tecna observed.

"They are, even the palace I grew up in was very simple," Jiā answered. "We don't spend a lot of time in our homes. We usually spend them outside in the parks or the markets."

"That's really cool," Flora breathed.

"If we ever get our home back I'll take you," Jiā promised as she smiled shyly.

"She's trying," Tetsushi muttered as he watched Jiā's conversation with the Winx girls.

"That's a good thing right?" Tenji asked, walking up behind him.

"A very good thing," Tetsushi answered, rolling his eyes.

"Hey!" Tenji yelled at him.

"Yes your majesty?" Tetsushi asked smiling.

"Do you two have to pick a fight?" Kaze sighed as he walked over to the pair.

"Yes," they answered.

"It's not my fault that he's insufferable," Tenji countered as he leaned against the wall only to find his hand press down a button and find himself flying out the back of the ship, gripping onto a handle near the edge of the open door.

"TENJI!" Kaze screamed as the group pushed themselves to the sides of the ship, avoiding the tunneling air that was entering the ship.

"Timmy stop the ship!" Bloom cried from her seat behind Sky, gripping a pipe.

"I can't," Timmy yelled back, desperately trying to take control of the ship.

"This ride is even less enjoyable out here!" Tenji cried, his voice muffled by the winds.

"Don't let go of the handle, I'm going to try to reach you," Kaze shouted from beside the door.

"Hurry up I'm slipping!" Tenji yelled, his voice lightly laced with fear. Kaze took one of the tools from the box next to him and changed it into a long rope which he tied an end around himself and an end around some of the pipes next to him. Inching out into the doorway, Kaze felt his foot slowly being pulled out. "Hurry up!" Tenji begged. Kaze looked at the door before reaching for a bar stretching across the door's width, in hopes to pull it closer to him. Just as he felt the bar in his grasp, Kaze felt his feet slide out from under him and pull him out into the abyss. His hand slipped from the bar and before he could fall further out into space he felt Tenji's arm wrapped around his waist. "Great rescue," Tenji said sarcastically.

"I tried," Kaze shrugged as they looked to see Tetsushi looking out past them.

"Shield yourselves!" Tetsushi yelled seconds before the magic blast hit them.

"Darcy," Musa yelled from inside the ship.

"We have to do something," Flora cried.

"Let's go –" Stella began.

"Don't!" Jiā stopped them. "You'll be sucked out."

"Then what do we do?" Bloom asked as they looked at the pair clinging onto the door.

"We pray they don't get killed," Jiā answered as Tetsushi looked out the door.

"My wings can take it," Tetsushi whispered.

"What are you planning?" Jiā called over.

"Something stupid!" Tetsushi answered, smiling.

"Wait no, don't!" Jiā called as Tetsushi flew out of the door. "Idiot."

"What's he going to do?" Tecna asked.

"Something stupid," Jiā sighed as she sat down, eyes trained on the boy flying outside. Taking at deep breath, she grabbed the rope next to her before slamming herself against the wall next to the door. Taking a deep breath, she began to spin the loop she had made around and finally released it. Looking out the door she was happy to see it tightly around Kaze's arm. He had positioned himself so that he would be ready to support Tenji's weight when the smaller boy let go. "1, 2-"

"3," Kaze finished as he let go of the bar, falling below the ship for just a second before being pulled inside.

"Tetsushi we're good!" Jiā screamed before hiding next to the button that would close the door. Tetsushi flew into the door in a flourish and Jiā slammed the door shut. "FLY!" Jiā ordered as soon as the door shut. Timmy slammed on the gas and the ship shot forward. They slowed down after a few moments, sure that the witches hadn't followed them.

"That's one way to get to Solaria faster," Tenji broke the silence.

"You ever do that again I am personally going to kill you," Kaze breathed as he looked at the boy under him.

"I didn't mean too," Tenji countered.

"I really don't care," Kaze answered, his eyes not leaving Tenji's.

"I'm fine stop worrying," Tenji sighed, pushing the larger boy off of him and walked into the lower deck.

"That's went well," Tetsushi sighed as he watched Kaze followed Tenji.

"What do you mean," Bloom asked looking at the boy coming off the floor.

"That would normally end up in a fight," Tetsushi answered.

* * *

As soon as the ship touched the ground, Tenji sprinted out of the door and crashed into the ground. "Was that really necessary?" Kaze looked at the smaller boy, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up," Tenji ordered in a hushed voice.

"Welcome all," the group, who had all disembarked the ship and were looking at Tenji, looked up to see a blonde woman with an uncanny resemblance to Stella.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Jiā bowed to the woman, recognizing her as Stella's mother.

"Mom!" Stella exclaimed in joy as she ran and hugged the woman.

"I have a surprise for you my dear," the woman smiled at the fairy before moving aside to show an older man that Stella screamed at the sight off.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, running into his arms.

"Stella," he smiled as he returned the hug.

"Both of you have already met my friends but you haven't met the others," Stella began as she faced both of her parents. "Let me introduce to you our guests from," Stella paused for a moment, "How do you pronounce your world's name?"

"Dìqiú Zhī Xīng," Jiā answered, "but you don't have to worry about pronouncing it. I'm a Jiā," she bowed at the waist before stepping aside.

"I'm Tetsushi," he introduced, repeating Jiā's action.

"I'm Kaze and this is Tenji," he bowed while gesturing to the smaller boy who rose from the ground and bowed.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," the Queen of Solaria smiled. "Now what exactly were you looking for, I was confused by the message that Stella sent me."

"To put it plan and simple, we need a pool of water, it doesn't matter how deep, that can encase the entire glow of the full moon," Jiā explained.

"We do have a pool in the garden that will reflect the moon but the refection isn't that big," the queen began.

"As long as the entire moon is encased in the water it'll work. My I see it?" Jiā asked.

"Follow me," the queen smiled at her as the group followed her into the castle. Jiā was overwhelmed at the architecture of the castle as they walked through it. In a matter of minutes they found themselves standing in front of a small pool in the middle of the garden.

"Do you mind if I go in it?" Jiā asked.

"Go ahead," the queen gestured to the pool. Jiā nodded her head before removing her shoes and stepping into the pool. She waded around in the ankle deep water for a moment, muttering to herself in her native language.

"Is that the language you speak?" Tecna asked looking at Tetsushi.

"Yes, it's one of them," Tetsushi answered.

"How many languages are there?!" Tecna asked shocked.

"Two," Tetsushi answered. "The one Jiā is speaking now is the most common, it's called Zhōng Guó the other is called Nihon and it's much more complicated. It's not quite as choppy but it has three writing styles and uses all three in most sentences."

"That sounds hard," Stella commented.

"We spend most of our lives studying both," Kaze informed them.

"This pool should work," Jiā interrupted the conversation. Slowly she climbed out of the shallow pool. "We just have to wait until the full moon tonight.

* * *

Jiā watched as the moon creped into the waters of the pool. "Everyone ready?" she asked looking behind her. After a nod of confirmation she continued. "We all need to be in the pool so that when the portal opens we can all get in. The moon's almost in position." She watched as everyone who was going on the journey entered the pool. Jiā looked back at the water and saw that the moon was fully inside the pool. "Brace yourselves," she warned as she pulled off the long chain necklace from around her neck and dropped it into the water, where the moon's refection was. The water around them began to bubble and rise as they felt themselves sinking into the bottom of the pool. Water began to wrap around them as their legs began to get a tingly sensation. Soon the light and almost ticklish sensation turned painful as they felt their bones and muscles change. Jiā cold hear the girl's screams as she tried to bare with the pain in her legs while breathing water.

* * *

**AN: Hey everyone! Here's a new chapter for you since it's been a while. Please comment, rate, review and all that jazz. **

**~Ashe**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Jiā took a deep breath, adjusting herself to the pressure of the water surrounding her and the need to breathe through the water.

"Why do we end in fish tails?" Riven's voice dragged her from her thoughts.

"Because the Mare's castle is underwater," Jiā sighed as she swan over to the group. "Just a bit a ways from here is the gates to the Sea of Despair, let get moving." Swimming ahead the group followed her. The water was light and easy on the eyes as she looked around, eyeing the coral reefs. Swimming down into a ravine Jiā came up to a large, golden gate that was guarded by two blue, fish-like men.

"All that enter here seek only one thing, the help of the mares," the first began.

"Great, riddles," Tenji muttered under his breath.

"Shh," Kaze scolded.

"But first you must prove you worth to not only the Lady Mares but to us Guardians as well," the second continued, ignoring Tenji.

"Three trials you will face," the first interrupted.

"And three trials you must pass," the second finished.

"For only then will the gates of the castle be opened," they finished together as the large golden gates opened to reveal open waters.

"Come on," Tetsushi ordered after a moments pause. the group followed into the open waters.

"Jiā," Bloom called up ahead.

"Yeah?" Jiā asked, slowing down to swim next to the girl.

"What was that," Stella interrupted.

"To reach the mare's castle, the mare's have to want to show it to you. To prove you worth their time you have to pass a series of trials. Sometimes there's one and sometimes there's hundreds. These trials don't have to be passed by all of us, just at least by one person in out party," Jiā explained. Looking around she was surprised to find herself in a forest of seaweed.

"It's it me or are we getting smaller?" Stella asked, stopping to look at her surrounds.

"I think it's the seaweed that's getting bigger," Flora answered, "look," she added pointing ahead. Looking ahead the group was shocked to see that the seaweed grew larger the further on they saw.

"Why don't we try going above the seaweed," Brandon tried, swimming up slowly.

"That's not a good idea Brandon," Timmy warned looking up, "I can see Jellyfish from here."

"You mean were trapped in this thing!" Stella shrieked.

"Stop it Stella, there's no reason to flip out," Musa countered.

"AHHH!" Tecna screamed, breaking up the impending fight. The Seaweed had wrapped itself around her tail and torso. Timmy was death-gripping her hands, hoping to keep her from being pulled down into the thicker areas of the seaweed.

"Everyone, pull together," Kaze ordered as he grabbed her back and pulled up. Everyone joined in the effort and after a moment of work they were able to get Tecna out of the seaweed only to turn around and find Tenji being pulled down.

"Somebody help!" Tenji cried as he grasped onto another seaweed branch only for it to wrap itself around his arm. Kaze bolted to his aid and grabbed onto his free arm.

"Ahh!" Layla screamed as Musa grabbed onto her, only to become trapped by a different Seaweed branch.

"What is going on?" Jiā managed as she battled another branch.

"This must be one of our trials," Tetsushi managed.

"How are we supposed to defeat seaweed?!" Stella exclaimed before it wrapped itself around her mouth. "Not a chance buddy," she exclaimed as she ripped the seaweed from her face.

"Flora!" Helia exclaimed, eyeing the motionless girl. Moving violently around, he was able to free one of his arms, which he used to grab the seaweed covering her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she righted herself.

"Everyone stay perfectly still," she warned before stilling again.

"Are you crazy?" Stella looked at the fairy of Nature.

"Stella, just trust me," she pleaded. The group, reluctantly in some cases, followed her lead. As soon as they were dragged to the base of the seaweed they were released with a clear pathway in front of them.

"How did you do that?" Sky asked looking at Flora.

"It doesn't matter if the plants are above around or under water, I cam still hear them. The seaweed was telling me to trust it and I did," Flora shrugged.

"Guess it doesn't matter where the nature is, so long as it's nature the Fairy of Nature can harness it's powers and communicate with it," Helia commented.

"Come on you guys, this way," Tetsushi called. "This forest of Seaweed ends just ahead of here."

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Tenji started.

"If you start that up I'm going to beat you," Kaze threatened.

"Oh you couldn't do that," Tenji taunted.

"You wanna test that theory?" Kaze challenged. Tenji looked at him, challenge in his eyes before backing down. "Good plan."

"What is it with those two?" Stella asked Jiā and Tetsushi.

"You really don't wanna know," Jiā began, testing the answer.

"Why not? Is it bad?" Stella questioned further.

"More like scaring," Tetsushi answered, leaving Stella puzzled.

"Don't lie!" Tenji and Kaze shouted back.

"What you two are scaring!" Tetsushi shouted back, smirking. "Need I bring up the Christmas party 4 years ago!"

"Don't bring that up!" Jiā yelled. "That was the worst party in history!"

"Oh it wasn't that bad," Tenji sighed.

"We found you two in a closet!" Jiā answered.

"That's was Seji's fault!" Kaze quickly retaliated.

"I don't care who's fault it was, my eyes will never un-see that!" Tetsushi shouted, swimming backwards. He stopped when he ran into it something hard. Looking up he was surprised to see bright purple eyes looking down at him. "SWIM AWAY!" he shouted, bolting from the creature.

"What is that thing?!" Musa shouted.

"I really don't care to find out!" Riven answered, pulling her further away from the racing monster.

"What do we do?!" Jiā shouted, looking over to Tetsushi.

"Split up, that things huge it can't chase us all at once," he answered. The group expressed their agreement before going in different directions.

"Why is it always me?!" Timmy asked looking behind himself. "HELP!"

"Hang on Timmy, we're coming," Riven shouted. He and the other boys tried to surround the beast as best as they could.

"Riven!" Musa called from a distance. He looked back at her. "There's a soft spot!" Riven looked at the creature before smiling back at her, seeing what she was talking about. Swimming to the top of the creature, Riven eyed the soft spot of skin. When he was about to strike something pushed him away. Tenji swam up quickly and stopped him from flying to far.

"I'll cover you," Tenji stated as the pair swam back to the creature. They danced through the tentacles that had hit Riven before. In seconds, they had reached the soft spot. As Tenji blocked the tentacles that were trying to push them away, Riven stabbed at the soft spot, causing the creature to become a black dust.

"What was that?" Stella asked as the group rejoined.

"Honestly, I don't care to stick around to find out," Tetsushi stated, "Things from our world tend to come back to life."

"Okay this is really off topic but Tetsushi are you okay?" Layla asked interrupting the previous thought.

"I'm a fire based creature and we're in water," Tetsushi sighed as he looked at the red marks beginning to cover his body. "You do the math."

"It's not fatal is it?" Jiā asked, worried.

"No just irritating," Tetsushi answered in a calming voice.

"Well we shouldn't hang around here too long," Timmy began as he watched the black dust begin to reform.

"Come on," Kaze sighed leading the group into open waters.

* * *

"Okay this is weeks late but how did you guys get down here?" Stella asked breaking the silence in the group, looking to the over worlders.

"When we escaped from prison we stole an army ship to get down here, we traveled with Seji, Izera, and Drenara too. In fact Seji ruined or fool-proof plan," Tenji sneered.

"What about you two?" Stella looked to Tetsushi and Jiā.

"To be honest, I don't know. I was unconscious at the time," Tetsushi answered.

"At the time we were being attacked by a snake like creature called a Jùshí Shé. I created a shooting star as a way for us to escape. Honestly I wasn't aiming for your world but that's okay.

"I thought you couldn't use magic," Layla remembered.

"Creating a shooting star isn't magic," Jiā began, pulling out a necklace from under her shirt. "An old witch taught me how to form the star dust in this necklace to create a shooting star. Her name was Nya."

"Is she dead?" Tecna asked, noticing the past tense.

"To be honest I don't know where she is," Jiā answered. "Come on we should keep going, the mare's castle is up ahead."

"We still have to face our final trial though," Sky reminded them. Everyone went onto high alert as they expected anything.

* * *

Tetsushi looked around, hoping to be able to strike against anything that would attack them. But instead of seeing anything that would attack them, he saw the group disappearing slowly. Coming to a stop he looked around the open water. "Hey what's going on?" he muttered under his breath. Suddenly his tail began to tingle as he felt his legs returning. The instant the he was human again, the water pressed on him making it hard to breath. He felt his skin simmering as the water cooled him off. Struggling he felt himself blacking out. As he tried to close his eyes he saw the faint image of Jiā trapped in a hoard of flames. Anger taking over him, he burst into flames only to be brought out of his trance. He looked around the group, all of which seemed dazed.

"What was that?" Jiā managed as she came too.

"I think that was our third trail," Tenji answered, looking at the shining castle in the distance.

"The Mare's castle," Jiā breathed.

* * *

**AN: Finally an update after so long. I know I haven't been very on time, and won't be for a while since I start school in a week, but please let me know what you think. It makes me more inclined to update. **

**~Ashe**


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The castle looked like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie. It was entirely made of dark grey stone. There was large amounts of algae lining the sides of the stone. It looked like a human medieval fortress had sunken underwater. Most of the towers didn't have tops and were crumpling, as were some on the sides. "It's been a long time," Jiā sighed as she saw forward towards the large opening in the front.

"What are the mares like?" Bloom asked, reaching Jiā just in front of the doorway.

"Why'd you stop?" Tetsushi asked.

"Once we go inside we'll return to normal," Jiā told the group as she looked into the black opening. "Once we go in, there's no turning back. Is everyone ready?"

"Let's go," Tenji smirked. "Time to take down your creep of an uncle."

"Follow me," Jiā ordered as she saw into the opening, feeling pain in her tail as it spilt back into her legs. Touching the stone floor she felt nothing but the cold stone. "Ahhh," she yelled in shock. Looking at herself she found that instead wearing her normal clothes she was dressed in a simple white dress. Looking at the guys she saw them in a set of white shirts and pants and the Winx girl's in their original fairy forms.

"It's been a awhile since I've seen this outfit," Stella mused as she fluttered into the air and looked at the orange outfit.

"That was lucky," Tenji muttered under his breath as he took in his white clothes.

"Why'd you scream?" Tetsushi asked, realizing the shout had been hers.

"The floors cold," Jiā whined.

"Come on, we need to keep moving," Kaze stated, bringing everyone out of their trances. The group agreed and began down the hallway, lined with tapestries.

"These tapestries are beautiful," Flora mused.

"They depict the birth of the mares," Jiā answered.

"You seem to know a lot about this place," Sky looked to Jiā.

"This isn't my first time here," Jiā told him. "I'd used to spend weeks here with my mom, learning how to use my powers."

"Were you any good?" Bloom asked.

"At controlling my powers?" Jiā clarified. Bloom nodded in confirmation. "There was no one who could beat me."

"That's amazing. How old were you when your powers became locked away?" Brandon asked.

"I was nine," Jiā answered.

"I'm sorry," Layla said slowly, watching Jiā's face fall.

"I can't really let it get me down," Jiā shrugged. "I may be small but I am strong."

"Your dad told you that," Tetsushi smiled.

"Yeah," Jiā sighed as she stopped walking. "I wanna do them proud. Now more than ever."

"You will," Bloom smiled at her.

"I know," Jiā answered. "It's just a matter of how proud I make them."

The halls winded around and around. "Okay I swear we've been walking in circles," Tenji sighed.

"Someone's playing a trick on us," Jiā stopped and looked around before smiling. "And Tenji you should recognize it."

"Why should I – wait I know this magic!" Tenji exclaimed realizing what was going on. "Release!" he shouted as the walls disappeared to reveal a large room with many pedestals stationed around the room.

"Tenji my dear that took you so long," a soft voice whispered from above them. Tenji looked behind himself before turning and rushing into the arms of a woman with pink hair and a small white and pink dress on.

"Huàn Xiǎng!" Tenji whispered happily, squeezing the woman tight.

"Dear why are dressed like this?" Huàn Xiǎng asked, pushing Tenji to an arms length.

"It was the only thing that would keep his father sane," Tenji growled gesturing back towards Kaze.

"HAHAHAHA!" a laugh boomed through the room as another woman, this time with long red hair but similar features to Huàn Xiǎng. "That sounds just like your father."

"He was worried that I was going to get hurt," Kaze cleared as he walked over to the new woman.

"Your father's always been scared of his own shadow," the woman replied, taking Kaze into her arms. "It's good to see you baby."

"You too Xiàn Shí," Kaze smiled as the woman released him.

"And these must be the under worlders that your staying with," Xiàn Shí pushed past Kaze to see the Winx girls and the Specialists. "They're brave to have made it this far," Xiàn Shí mused.

"She's right," Huàn Xiǎng interrupted, "not many under worlders have the strength of heart that we do."

"Umm . . . thank you," Bloom answered, not sure of the complement.

"Now Tetsushi and Jiā go see your mares. We've missed all of you dearly," Huàn Xiǎng nodded towards the hallway. Both a-for mention people bowed and then left the room.

"Come we'll show you the castle," Xiàn Shí smiled.

* * *

Tetsushi looked into the warm room before smiling. Sitting in front of a mirror, brushing her hair straight to the sky, sat another mare dressed in tight red, orange, and yellow fabric. She turned to face him after seeing his face in the mirror. "Tetsushi," she smiled, walking towards him with arms wide open, which he gladly stepped into.

"Huǒ," he breathed.

"It's been a long time my son," she breathed into his hair.

"Yeah," Tetsushi agreed slowly.

"How's your anger been?" she asked, bringing him to a chair.

"Manageable," he answered.

"There is something troubling you?" she took towards him, her eyes full of worry.

"We'll talk about with the queen," Tetsushi assured her.

"If your sure," she answered, skeptical.

"Yes, right now a loving embrace is good," he spoke softly as he gingerly wrapped his arms around her waist once more.

* * *

Jiā stood outside the doorway, unsure of if she should go inside.

"Why are you standing outside my door," a voice called her from her thoughts. Jiā turned around to face a woman with golden eyes and hair and a simple white dress. Jiā froze upon the sight of the woman, managing an 'I'm sorry' before bowing her head in shame.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," the woman assured her.

"Xīng Guāng I lost all the powers you granted me," Jiā whispered.

"I know," Xīng Guāng answered before opening the door to her room. "Come in."

"How come you're not scolding me?" Jiā asked in a low voice as she sat against one of the many pillows on the bed.

"Because you have not lost them," Xīng Guāng answered.

"Yes I have!" Jiā shouted, rising to her feet. "Because I was to weak and to scared I've locked away my powers for good, I haven't been able to do magic for five years. Every gift you gave to me and to my mother is gone. There is nothing left. I was too scared, it all went away. I wasn't strong enough," Jiā sank to her knees as the mares trapped the small girl in her arms. "I'm too weak."

"You are not weak and your powers are not gone. They are asleep. I can still feel them within you."

* * *

**AN: Wow, I've been gone for a while. I'm sorry this is so short but I'm so crammed right now with the start of school, hopefully things will calm down soon but for now here's another chapter, though short. I hope you enjoy it and please comment, rate, review and all that jazz. **

**~Ashe**


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Jiā stood in the middle of the throne room, looking at the Mares that surrounded her. The individual thrones swirled up along the walls of the circular room, making Jiā feel small in comparison. She didn't dare to rise from her knees as she waited for the Queen of the mares to arrive. The room silenced as the woman arrived. "Jiā," she smiled, her fiery red hair blowing in the slight breeze. "You have come seeking the truth."

"Yes," Jiā answered, her voice echoing in the room.

"Look around you what do you see," the queen gestured around the room. Jiā followed the order and gazed around the room. She saw mares of all shapes and colors looking at her. Finding her eyes traveling to the top of the room she became confused.

"There's a empty throne," Jiā answered slowly.

"You're right," the queen nodded. "My twin sister's throne. Sǐ Wáng (死亡) the Mare of Death. She has not graced this court's presence in centuries. You see eons ago my sister attempted to take over my powers, giving her control over life a death. At the time we were still children, being cared for by the universe. She was found with a dagger at my throat. The universe banished her from our castle for her deed. She tried for centuries to return but could never cross the sea. She began to create chaos to the humans of your realm. Eventually she happened upon a young girl without powers. Now Sǐ Wáng had never gifted a child with her powers before and that day, from the girl's begging she granted the child with her abilities to create chaos in any form."

"What!" Jiā rose in shock. "How is it that we have never heard of the girl?!"

"You have my dear," the queen continued, not bothered by the intrusion, "She is the Demon Witch, Naomi," Jiā sank to the ground, shocked at the discovery.

"Is there any way to stop her?" Jiā asked, lost in thought.

"Your friend Kaze will know what to do," the queen told her.

"What about my uncle?"

"I am afraid you are correct. Only death has the power to release your uncle from Naomi's grasp," the queen looked to the ground as Jiā closed her eyes.

"How?" Jiā demanded.

"You must stab him through the heart," Xīng Guāng answered. Jiā looked to her mare, pleading. "Come bring me Tetsushi's knife." Jiā nodded in a haze and brought forward her sole weapon. She slowly handed it to the mare. "Trust this knife," Xīng Guāng began and the knife started to glow, "It will help you overcome your fear."

"Jiā do not be freighted, this will not end in sorrow," Jiā turned to face a mare with pale white complexion and bright pink hair. Jiā nodded in response as she looked to the queen.

"I will send you and your friends home my dear. I wish you the best," the queen stood and raised her hand. All Jiā could see was a flash of bright light.

* * *

The group found themselves awakening on the lawn of Alfea.

"We're back!" Stella cried standing up before sinking to the ground in pain.

"It'll take a while for the pain from the tails to go away but we'll be fine," Jiā assured the group before standing up slowly. "In the mean time we should talk to Ms. Fargonda and tell her what we've learned."

"And we've learned what exactly?" Tenji asked leaning onto Kaze. "You were the only one allowed into the sanctuary remember."

"What's got you so irritable?" Tetsushi asked.

"Think about my situation and my reality and how I'm having to live," Tenji answered.

"Too much information!" Tetsushi cried, covering his ears.

"Come on!" Jiā shouted through her giggles.

* * *

"Ms. Fargonda!" Jiā called pushing the door to the room open slightly.

"Jiā, girls, how did your trip go?" Ms. Fargonda asked, looking up from a large book.

"Productively," Jiā answered. "I know why our world's dying."

"You do?!" Tenji and Kaze shouted in amazement.

"Yes, It's because of the Mare of Death, Sǐ Wáng," Jiā explained.

"But she disappeared hundred of years ago," Kaze countered.

"Not before granting a child her powers," Jiā countered.

"The Demon Witch," Kaze breathed in realization.

"Who's real name is Naomi," Jiā smiled. "The Queen of the Mares said you'd know what to do, Kaze."

"Wait Naomi as in N-A-O-M-I Naomi?" Kaze asked skeptical.

"The very same," Jiā answered.

"Izera and Drenara!" Kaze shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

"I'm lost," Tenji sighed, looking at the boy.

"Izera and Drenara can defeat the Demon Witch!" Kaze exclaimed.

"They can?" Tetsushi asked.

"We can!" the group turned to the door to see Izera, Seji and Drenara stating inside the frame, shocked. "How?" Izera asked.

"Okay the story of Naomi is this. She was originally like my great-great-great aunt or something and she was born without powers. The story goes that she met an old wizard that granted her supreme powers. She astonished our world with her gifts to alter the reality around her perfectly. Years past and people found she had a lover. For some reason her father hated the guy and killed them both. Being held down by Crystal chains, the only thing she couldn't change with her powers, they were frozen from the inside out. Naomi was killed first and apparently her lover went insane, he destroyed the castle and fled with her body. He was never seen again.

"If Naomi is truly the Demon Witch then that story may have held some truth in it. It wouldn't be the first time that a human has fallen in love with their mare,," Tetsushi added.

"My guess the story was changed around a bit," Tenji began. "The mares said that Death gave Naomi her powers. It possible that out of appreciation Naomi dedicated her life to Death, becoming obsessed with her."

"And at that time people of the same gender loving each other wasn't that common and was looked down upon," Tetsushi added.

"When Naomi was executed, people must not have realized that her lover was actually her mare, Death. Death became enraged and destroyed everything in her agony, taking Naomi far away from the stars and reviving then hiding her," Jiā finished up.

"Okay back up I'm so confused," Stella sighed. "Who was in love with who, and who died and who gave powers and WHAT!" she rambled.

"The mares that grant us our powers create an emotional attachment to us much like a mother to her child. That's what the Mare of Death, for short we call her Death, created between Naomi and herself. Naomi felt so indebted to Death that she became obsessed with her. The villagers mistook the pair as lovers and tried to execute them. Killing Naomi first, they drove Death insane not realizing who she was," Kaze began.

"To put it lightly you don't kill a mare's child in front of her," Tenji interjected.

"Death fled with Naomi, revived her and hid themselves away," Kaze continued.

"But if Death's still around, why haven't we seen her?" Tecna asked.

"Because when she revived Naomi she did something wrong. Most likely she drained herself and the stars around her. It threw our world's balance into chaos. The Mares told me that our world's been dying for at least a century but for some reason Naomi began to speed up the process 7 years ago when my uncle killed my parents," Jiā answered.

"But why, isn't she going to kill herself in the process if you're world dyes?" Bloom asked.

"Simple, Death probably has been asleep all this time, regaining her powers. She has to wake up sometime," Jiā answered.

"Naomi's preparing for her awaking," Ms. Fargonda breathed.

"Not just that," Jiā shook her head slowly. "She's going to try to take the Queen's life again. So she can control both life and death. With that power she reverse the damage that's been done to our world and create it in her image. She's trying to rewrite what happened in the past with the future."

"Wait you're saying we have to stop DEATH!" Stella screamed.

"The Maric Council technically has four heads: Life, Death, Fear, and Starlight. There's a reason that before now none of them have ever granted anyone their powers. They simply are too strong. When Death granted Naomi her powers the magic in our world was put of balance. When she was killed the mares could rest easy. Something tells me that they found out she was alive and one of them granted their powers to another child in hopes of defeating her," Jiā explained.

"But who? Are they in prison?" Layla asked.

"The exact opposite. I'm looking at you," Jiā answered.

* * *

**AN: Okay I know I've been gone for like a month and I'm so sorry that it's been so long. I've been so bogged down with homework and such. I hope this update is pleasing and that you like it. Please comment, rate, and all that jazz since that's how I know that I should even update this. **

**Thanks**

**~Ashe**


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Jiā felt the night air nip at her skin, comfortingly. "What are you doing here?" Jiā was brought from her ravine by the soft voice.

"Thinking," she answered as Tetsushi sat down next to her.

"About what?" he asked looking at her.

"Tomorrow," Jiā answered.

"What's happening tomorrow?" Tetsushi looked at her alarmed.

"The concept of tomorrow," Jiā corrected, giggling.

"Oh." Tetsushi sighed, sitting beside her, "Are you scared of tomorrow?"

"I used to be," Jiā answered, spinning herself around to look down at the courtyard. "I wish I could be blissfully unaware again." Jiā's eyes followed the young students that ran around the grounds, not a care crossing their minds. "I wish I didn't know what lay beyond the skies."

"That's our home!" Tetsushi shouted.

"Our skies, not these ones," Jiā chuckled as she looked to her friend.

"Oh," Tetsushi sat back down, his head hanging in embarrassment from his mistake. Jiā laughed before turning back to the courtyard. "Do you regret coming here?"

"I don't know," Jiā shrugged. A comfortable silence enveloped them as Tetsushi stared at the girl. "You know you never answered my question from before."

"Which one?" Jiā asked, focusing on the taller boy next to her.

"What would you do if I kissed you?" Tetsushi looked to the sky.

"What's with that question?" Jiā asked.

"What about it?" Tetsushi asked looking down at her.

"You've never asked me questions like that before," Jiā answered.

"So?" Tetsushi challenged.

"So why are you asking them now?" Jiā looked at him, searching his eyes.

"I'm just curious," Tetsushi shrugged. "It's not really that important."

"Tetsushi that's like asking me what would I do if you asked me to marry you," Jiā stressed.

"Not it's not!" Tetsushi exclaimed. "How?"

"Kissing is the binding between a marriage, you know that," Jiā answered. "Maybe being down here has affected your mind," Jiā looked at him skeptically.

"So we shouldn't have come here?" Tetsushi asked again.

"I told you I don't know," Jiā answered.

"Before you would have answered with something," Tetsushi told her.

"Are you saying that I don't know what I'm doing," Jiā looked up at him.

"No," Tetsushi answered her quickly, "I'm just saying that you've changed too. You're much more unsure of yourself and that you aren't trying to help yourself anymore. I heard what Xīng Guāng said. Your powers are still inside of you."

"How can you say I'm not trying?" Jiā screeched at him. "I try each and everyday. Every moment that I can!"

"Don't lie to me!" Tetsushi yelled, frightening her. "Each and everyday your magical signature disappears more and more. I have a hard time finding you these days because it's so faint. Even here standing in front of me I have to really focus to feel it! Why aren't you fighting for your powers? Why are you letting them disappear?"

"Because I want them too!" Jiā shouted back before jumping off the side of the tower, landing on her feet and sprinting into the forest.

"Damn it!"

* * *

Jiā ran further into the forest, her tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Stupid Tetsushi," she muttered spitefully. "Stupid, un-understanding, yelling Tetsushi," Jiā huffed before sitting down on the ground.

"And here I thought he was your world," Jiā looked up at the old voice only to smile and run into the woman's arms.

"Nya," she cooed.

"What's wrong baby?" Nya asked looking down at the small girl in her arms. "Were you always this big?"

"I'm small Nya, not big," Jiā corrected the old woman. "And it's Tetsushi."

"Well I figured that with how you were running his name through the mud," Nya answered, sitting down on a tree stump. "Did he hurt you?"

"No he yelled at me," Jiā answered.

"About what?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Jiā answered quickly.

"Fine, than did you deserve the yelling?" Nya asked.

"Yes," Jiā answered softly.

"Than you should apologize for running away," Jiā looked up at Nya only to see her disappear into the wind as the rain started to poor in the forest.

"Why do I have to apologize?" Jiā sighed. "I didn't do anything wrong. Sure I don't practice and I don't want my powers but that's none of Tetsushi's business. It shouldn't matter to him weather I have them or not. I'm fine on my own without them."

"But is everyone else?" Tetsushi asked looked at the soaked girl.

"We're doing fine now," Jiā shrugged.

"We can't defeat the demon witch without your powers," Tetsushi told her.

"I know," Jiā sighed in defeat.

"Then why do you still want to lose your powers?" Tetsushi asked. Jiā merely shrugged in response before sitting on the wet ground and hugging her knees to herself. "This isn't about your powers is it?" Jiā merely nodded in response. "How long?" Tetsushi asked, realization donning on him.

"They never stopped," Jiā answered.

"You're mask is getting better, you even had me fooled that you were happy," Tetsushi sighed sitting next to her. "I'm not letting you kill yourself," he whispered in her ear.

"I know," she answered, gripping her wrist.

"You're not alone," Tetsushi reminded her.

"I feel alone when I'm in a room full of people," Jiā countered.

"That's just the depression talking," Tetsushi responded.

"Then why has it been that way for 7 years?"

* * *

**AN: Wow it's been like a month since I've updated. I'm really sorry! School got so busy and everything was coming on so fast but hopefully things will be better now. Also I have my mojo back so I'll hopefully be updating more. Also I just have to questions for my readers since I'm trying to improve my writing. 1. What parts have you really like (in this chapter or overall) and what parts were really well written. 2. What parts (in this chapter or overall) ****we're weak and what would you do to improve them. Thank you for answering ahead of time. Also sorry this is short. I want to start the action in a new chapter so that there's a bit of a break. **

**Please rate, review and all that jazz!**

**Thanks,**

**Ashe**


	18. Chapter 17

Jiā sat in the dorm room, watching as the Winx girl's conversed with each other, laughing till their sides hurt. "Jiā come join us!" Stella yelled across the room. Jiā merely smiled and nodded her head in a decline before looking back out the window. The rain pattered down the window. Sighing she looked back at the girls. They were still laughing as though what was going on didn't exist.

"It's good sometimes to let go," Jiā muttered, quoting her mother. Jiā slowly brought her knees to her chest as she wrapped the blanket around her tightly. She fell into a light sleep to the sounds of laughter.

* * *

"She's asleep," Bloom called to the group, looking over her shoulder at Jiā.

"I wish there was more we could do for her," Flora sighed, bring her knees underneath her.

"I don't think there's anything that anyone can do for her," Musa sighed. "I remember after my mom died. Me and my dad were wrecks. We'd spend days with family and friends but, none of it helped. The hole was to consuming. Eventually, over time, I was able to become used to the pain that the hole brought. Jiā lost both her parents and her home in just a few years. She hasn't had time to really except what has happen to her. She hasn't had time to adjust so she doesn't know what to do with herself. She's lucky to have someone like Tetsushi there for her. He's able to guide her, able to remind her who she once was."

"She's just going through the motions," Layla sighed. "She has for years. I don't think that she knows anything else.

"Um guys," Tecna interrupted. "She's going outside."

"What?!" Flora stood up before chasing after the smaller girl. "Jiā you need to come –" Flora stopped short, seeing the army of Dì Qiú at the gate. Chāo floating overhead, smirking.

"It's started," Jiā breathed before launching herself into the courtyard.

* * *

Flora struggled against the large numbers of Dì Qiú surrounding her. Each time she tried to shoot one down, two more would appear in its place. Sighing she looked up to the skies to see the Red Fountain ships had arrived. She'd hoped that she would be able to fight alongside Helia but, she couldn't find him. She had been separated from the girls. It took everything in her power not to become over powered by the Dì Qiú soldiers.

* * *

Bloom found with her back pressed against Stella's. She shot off rows of fire , hoping to create a barrier. She was quickly learning that the idea was a failure as the Dì Qiú seemed to be fire-proof.

"What can we do?" Stella shouted, shooting rays of light repeatedly at the Dì Qiú.

"Fight," Bloom answered. "We have to guard our school."

* * *

Tecna, Musa and Layla were shooting spell after spell at the Dì Qiú, with no effects.

"Each time we fight these things, they get stronger and stronger," Tecna sighed as she shot another spell into the chaos.

"Dì Qiú Soldiers are created from magic and can be anything that the creator desires," Kaze answered, appearing in the Chaos. "Something tells me that the Demon Witch knows more about you're fighting styles then we thought. She's outmatched you."

"Is there anything we can do?" Layla shouted, throwing multiple morphix balls at the creatures.

"Stay alive."

* * *

Jiā stabbed at anything that moved. She couldn't see beyond the Dì Qiú, they stood a good head taller than her. She could hear the roar of fire and assumed that either Tetsushi or Seji were here. Or both. Her dagger flung around her as she blocked the enemy attacks and stabbed the Dì Qiú down. Each time she landed a solid hit to one of them, they would turn to dust and blew away. She knew that later on, the Dì Qiú would just reform and join the battle once again. "Do you like my army?" Jiā spun around to meet the face of her uncle. His eyes were pitch black and a crooked smile decorated his face.

"You're going to destroy everything!" she yelled at him. "Stop this! This isn't you!"

"Oh but it is," Chāo answered. "This is how I've always been."

"Not it's not, I know you!" Jiā screamed, throwing her dagger at him. Chāo disappeared into a cloud of smoke before reappearing next to her.

"How can you be sure?" Chāo challenged, leaning to whisper into her ear. "How do you know I haven't been lying to you since day one. How do you know how I really am?"

"Because I can see the strings," Jiā answered, her voice laced with confidence that she didn't know she had. " A mad-man would not help the poor. A mad-man would not build a school from nothing but wood and his two hands. A mad-man would not personally clean the waters that were dirtied because of a single mistake. A mad-man would not willingly give his younger brother the throne. A mad-man would not smile."

"You are getting to be obnoxious," Chāo seethed.

"You're the one that taught me how to speak for myself. You've got no-one to blame but yourself," Jiā countered.

"Unfortunately your right," Chāo sighed. "The only way to stop the Dì Qiú is to destroy this charm," Chāo showed her the glowing pendant. "Come if you dare." Jiā watched as the man ascend to the top of the tower. Gritting her teeth, she raced forward, grabbing her knife on her way and began to scale the tower.

* * *

Tetsushi looked around himself. A sea of Dì Qiú surrounded him and he knew it wouldn't end. Throwing another wall of fire into the sea of Dì Qiú, he prayed that some would stay down. Unfortunately luck was not on his side as more Dì Qiú rose from the ashes. "What does it take to kill these things!" he screamed in frustration. Looking ahead he was shocked to see Jai scaling the tower wall. Looking at the top, he saw Chāo looking down at the chaos, a smirk on his face. Gritting his teeth in anger, Tetsushi prepared to take off. A large hand stopped him. Tetsushi turned to face his brother.

"That is her fight," Seji told him, his eyes serious. "Let's take care of things down here." Tetsushi reluctantly nodded in agreement before turning to face the sea of creatures. "Shall we?" Seji asked, a wild glint in his eyes, his hand on fire. Tetsushi smiled before nodding.

* * *

Jiā panted as she pulled herself over the top of the tower. "There is a staircase," Chāo remarked sarcastically.

"One of your minions destroyed the door," Jiā muttered, gesturing towards the broken side entrance of Alfea.

"Oh, good," Chāo shrugged.

"You really are a lunatic," Jiā muttered.

"Ah, ah, ah no insulting your uncle. That's not proper manners," Chāo waved a finger at her.

"I'm getting sick of this taunting," Jiā muttered, flipping her dagger in her hands.

"Then shall we begin?" Jiā gripped her dagger harder as Chāo shot a giant block of ice at her. At the last second she launched herself over it and landed a good yard and a half from Chāo. She dogged in and out of the ice shards that he shot at her in an attempt to slow her down. Jiā didn't stop and charged on towards her uncle. When she finally reached him she began to slash in front of her, landing a long cut across the bridge of his nose. Chāo swung his arm, which he had lit on fire, at her in an attempt to get her away. Jiā hopped away from the flaming limb, gaining distance between the two of them. Skillfully she began to dance in and out of the electric strikes that her uncle was calling from the sky. At the last second a bolt struck an inch from her nose. She lost her concentration and landed across the floor, her hair singed. Breathing heavily she pushed herself of the floor and brandished her dagger once more. Charging at the man, she leaped into the air and began to strike at him, keeping herself airborne. Chāo became aggravated at her and threw her from him. Jiā tried not to focus on the searing pain on her stomach, knowing that it was burned if Chāo's smoking arm was a clue.

"Face it you can't win!" he shouted before charging.

* * *

Bloom fired another fire arrow at the creatures. "There's no end!" she panted. Long ago she had been separated from Stella. Gritting her teeth, she flew into the skies in hopes of having a better idea. The Dì Qiú were around the school. Red Fountain Heroes, Alfea Fairies, and Cloud Tower Witches fought together in hopes of bringing down the creatures that were lining the courtyard and walls of Alfea.

"Bloom!" hearing her name, Bloom turned herself around to meet the rest of the Winx.

"We've got to think of a better plan!" Tecna cried as she fired a spell into the chaos, effectively freeing some freshman fairies.

"These things don't die!" Stella whined. "How are we supposed to kill something that doesn't die!" Bloom looked around at the mess below her feet. Her eyes landed on Izera and Drenara who, unbeknownst to anyone were winning.

"We immobilize them," Bloom smiled watching as Izera and Drenara trapped the Dì Qiú in either ice or crystal. "Tecna I need you, Layla and Flora to make a prison large enough to hold these things. Stella, Musa you're going to help me get theses things inside the prison. Put the prison on the ground, hopefully others will see us and get the idea."

"Okay," the girls nodded before flying off. Flora and Layla landed and began to intermix their magic, creating a large circular prison lined with vines and morphix. Tecna cast another spell on the globe and a digital frame appeared around it. "Bloom you on!" Tecna shouted as she turned her attention on the surrounding Dì Qiú. Instantly the six girls began to drive the Dì Qiú into the sphere. The soldiers trapped inside beat against the morphix surrounding them, only causing the morphix to shake. "A one-way door," Tecna smiled as she began to drive more Dì Qiú inside. The people surrounding them caught on and began to push Dì Qiú into the prison. Layla shifted her attention to the prison, wiling it to expand and take in the large numbers of soldiers without destroying Flora and Tecna's reinforcements.

"It's working!" Stella cried with joy as the numbers of Dì Qiú began to diminish.

* * *

Jiā tumbled to the ledge of the tower, a long scrap down the side of her head, instantly bleeding. Looking over the edge she was happy to see the Winx girl's handling the Dì Qiú. Turning back around she rose to her feet again and faced her uncle.

"Why won't you stay down!" he screamed, the playful smirk from the beginning of the battle long gone.

"Because I don't know how to give up!" Jiā muttered to herself.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you!. I know you learned how to speak to your elders!" Chāo screamed.

"I said my father never taught me how to give up!" Jiā yelled, charging at Chāo. She raised the dagger and began to drive him to the edge of the tower.

"What are you going to do to me? Push me over?" Chāo asked.

"Why not?"

* * *

Tetsushi was pulled from his intense concentration at a scream. He watched as Chāo and Jiā crashed into the ground. Both slowly rose to their feet, Jiā stumbling a few times before staying standing. Both looked awful. Chāo had a long cut across his nose that was leaking blood across his face. His eyes were widen and wild. His arms were an angry red and smoking, a sign that he had lit them on fire more than once. Chāo's clothes were in tatters and he had multiple cuts across his body. One of his ankles was sprained, if not broken by the way he was leaning. Jiā didn't look much better. Blood raced down the side of her face. A large burn covered her stomach and her shirt was barely clinging to her small frame. Her arms and legs had small burns, obviously from electric volts. The ends of her hair were singed and she long forgot her shoes, instead running around bare foot. Relentlessly, Jiā charged at Chāo, landing small scraps along his already cut-up body. "DON'T!" he shouted at Bloom who was racing in to help her. "This is her fight," he admitted.

* * *

Jiā danced through Chāo's attacks, anticipating the lightning strikes. She launched herself away from him as he slammed his fists into the ground, creating small fissures and mountains. Panting, Jiā flipped her dagger again before circling around and attacking his smoking arm. Relentlessly she attacked him before moving backwards, creating a dance that looked like pushing and pulling. She felt herself going lightheaded as she began to notice the wound on her head. Chāo had already lost a lot of blood, his movements were slow and sluggish but, so were hers. The fight would end soon.

"Are you going to stay down?" Chāo called over to her.

"No!" Jiā screamed back. "I don't know how!"

"Well I'll teach you," Chāo smirked before racing his hand. Without even thinking Jiā threw her dagger before Chāo could summon an attack. The knife embedded itself in his neck and he fell to the ground. Jia watch as some of the black strings she saw before snap until there was only one left connected. Slowly walking towards the still form she was greeted by a familiar shade of ice blue. "Uncle!" she cried, sliding to his side, gazing into his now ice blue eyes.

"Jiā," he breathed weakly, spitting up blood.

"Uncle," she whined, tears brimming her eyes. "Don't talk, we can still –"

"No," he interrupted, "it's not worth it. I can feel the dark magic of the last string creeping back in."

"No," Jiā breathed, running a hand down the side of his face, her tears rolling over. "I don't wanna be alone."

"Jiā," he whispered placing his hand over hers and lacing their fingers together. "When you feel alone look around you and see who is there. See who is looking at you. You are never alone. Now do as you must. I wish to die while seeing you with my eyes, not eyes clouded in black," he ordered her taking the dagger from his neck and holding it out for her, his fingers wrapped tightly over the handle. Jiā covered his hand with both of her own and helped him move the dagger over his heart. Closing her eyes she thrust the dagger down. Opening her eyes she saw her uncle's hand slack and his eyes closed, as though he was sleeping. Removing the dagger she laid it on the ground beside her, the sunset light dancing off the blade. Looking ahead, she saw the prison still filled with Dì Qiú and some still roaming the grounds. Looking to her uncle's neck she saw the pendant from before. She ripped it from his neck and walked to the wall of the tower. Feeling numb, she raised her arm and hurled the pendant at the wall - shattering it. Taking a deep breath she sprinted out of the gates and into the woods.

* * *

**AN: Hey everyone! Sorry this took so long to upload. I had no internet over Thanksgiving Break but luckily I was able to add a lot. I'll have updates for you more frequently since my muse is hitting full throttle. Though I may not upload for two weeks since I have my first set of college finals but I promise once I get off I'll give you something. Thank you so much for reading! Please comment, rate, review and all that jazz. **

**~Ashe**


	19. Chapter 18

Jiā sat at the edge of the lake, looking at her reflection without really seeing it.

"Are you okay?" Jiā heard Tetsushi called from behind her.

"I wonder if my uncle felt like this after he killed my parents," Jiā whispered absently mindedly. "Numb."

"Jiā," Tetsushi called, not really knowing what to say.

"It's interesting," Jiā began again looking down at her hands, a tiny orb of light dancing in their embrace. "I feel nothing. I feel calm."

"Calm and nothing are two different things," Tetsushi reminded her, taking her hands gently in his, a ring of fire appearing around the tiny orb. The pair fell into a confortable silence, looking at their powers together.

"Will it always be like this?" Jiā asked after a moment. "You and me together?"

"If that's what you want,' Tetsushi answered, laying his head on her shoulder

"There was something I didn't tell you, about that night," Jiā stated.

"What?" Tetsushi asked, not looking at her.

"My uncle tried to kill me too," Jiā answered.

"What?" Tetsushi asked, shocked.

"He had held the knife to my neck," Jiā chuckled at the irony. "At the last minute he stopped and left the room in a hurry."

"I still don't understand how he managed to still become Wáng," Tetsushi sighed.

"Because I told the council it was someone else," Jiā answered.

"What?! Why would you - ! How!," Tetsushi stumbled.

"Because that's what I believe until he invaded with the Dì Qiú," Jiā answered. "He had me believing every lie he told."

"Jiā," Tetsushi called again.

"It's alright," Jiā answered, looking to the sky, the stars high. "Did you mark him?"

"No we were going to let you do it," Tetsushi answered. "Which mark did you want to give him?"

"The Jìnghuà (净化) mark," Jiā answered. "My uncle was under the influence of Dark Magic. Though it explains his actions, it does not excuse them. One day I hope that his soul can become clean enough to enter the Tiānkōng (天空). My aunt and my parents are there. I hope he can be with them one day."

"Jiā, that could take eternities," Tetsushi reminded her.

"That's okay," Jiā answered. "In death a soul has forever."

* * *

Jiā quietly walked back into the dorm in the wee hours of the morning. The lights turned on suddenly as she tried to sneak into her room. She was surprised to see the Winx girls up.

"You need bandages," Flora smiled, hoping up medical supplies. At that point Jiā became aware of her injuries. Her face was caked in her own dried blood and her stomach was still in pain, the skin was tight. The paper cut like scraps that decorated her arms and legs began to spring to life with tiny flutters of pain.

"Thank you," Jiā nodded.

"Come here," Stella added, holding a pair of scissors. "I'll get rid of the burnt ends." Jiā pulled the end of her long hair forward to see that in fact her hair had been burned.

"When did that happen?" Jiā muttered to herself. Slowly she walked over to the girls and sat down on the large chair between them. Flora instantly began to wring out a cloth as Stella assessed the damage to her hair.

"Seji said you'd want this," Layla said, holding out a ring for Jiā. Jia looked shocked before taking the gold band in her hands. "It was on your uncles hand."

"Its his wedding ring," Jiā answered reaching around her neck. Slowly she pulled down a chain with three rings on it. Two were linked together and the other was hanging by itself. The two rings that were linked were the same shade of shining silver and one had a small diamond in it. The lone ring was gold, the same shade as her uncle's, and also had a diamond in it. "The two silver ones were my parents' wedding rings. The gold was my aunts," Jiā explained, pouring the gold ring into her hand next to her uncles. "I stole this necklace from my uncle's study one day after he had been possessed. At their funeral, I had been given my parent's wedding rings and they had lived in a jewelry box. I linked them together and put on the chain with my aunts. The chain has never left my neck." Jiā closed both hands around the gold rings and began to concentrate. Opening her hands and her eyes, she saw that the rings were linked together, never to be broken apart. "There always together." Jiā smiled looking at the two pairs of rings. She slid the gold pair back onto the chain and replaced it around her neck. "I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you."

"There's nothing for you to apologize for," Layla told her.

"I've treated you rudely, its not right. Especially not now that you've helped me defeat my uncle," Jiā retaliated.

"Don't try to give us credit for that. That was all you," Tecna told her.

"Still you figured out how to defeat the Dì Qiú," Jiā shrugged.

"We can't take all the credit for that," Bloom answered. "The only reason that I came up with the idea was because I saw Izera and Drenara doing it and it was wrong."

"Asking for help is not a weakness," Jiā told her. "That reminds me. We need to train you. Now that the Demon Witch has lost a curtail pawn she's going to come at us with everything she's got."

"What about the Trix?" Musa asked.

"You have to admit that we haven't seen a lot of them for being free," Tecna added.

"I don't think that the demon witch wants them for the fight. She wants them for something else," Jiā mused. "I just don't know what. Enough about depressing thoughts. I think we can relax for the moment. The Demon Witch will have to change her plans."

* * *

The demon witch entered into her private room, rage written on her face. She raced to the bedside of Sǐ Wáng. "He is dead. Chāo is dead," she whispered as she grabbed the woman's hand. "He is dead much to soon," she continued. Sighing she looked at the sleeping face of the woman in front of her. The light danced off the bridge of her nose, giving Sǐ Wáng a look of false innocence. Laying her head on the bed, Naomi allowed her thoughts to swirl. "What do I do?" she begged into the blankets.

"Whatever I tell you to."

* * *

Jiā sat in the courtyard watching the Winx girls spar against each other. She had to admit they were powerful. With proper training they'd make good warriors against the Demon Witch and Sǐ Wáng. Jiā's gut had a sinking feeling all day. She knew that death was now awake and that they'd have to think of a way to outwit her. Sigh Jiā slowly rose to her feet, her bandages pulling at her skin, and walked to Ms. Faragonda's side.

"What are your thoughts?" Ms. Faragonda asked, looking at the young girl.

"They need more training," Jiā sighed. "The way that you use your powers works for you're enemies because they use theirs the same way. Our way of fighting is completely different," Jiā explained. "They'll need training. Those specialist boys will too."

"Well I think that a trip to Earth would work," Ms. Faragonda suggested.

"No, Earth's magic is too new. We need somewhere with old, powerful magic. Magic that is integrated into the walls and earth of the land that we cannot disturb it," Jiā countered.

"Then I'd suggest Tides, Layla's home," Ms. Faragonda stated.

"Tides, I've heard of that place. It had a portal to you're prison world that almost destroyed the dimension with it was opened," Jiā recalled. "I don't know who closed it though."

"Tecna."

* * *

"What's got you so grouchy?" Tetsushi asked looking at Tenji walking up to the group.

"I have to get in this death trap again," Tenji growled.

"You're the one that opened the hatch," Riven reminded, smirking at Tenji. Tenji growled again before drawing his sword, pointing it at Riven's neck.

"I'll be taking this," Kaze sighed, ripping the blade from Tenji's hand and walking between the two and dragging the blade on the ground.

"Hey give me my sword!" Tenji yelled. "And stop dragging it on the ground."

"Stop nagging!" Kaze smiled back. "You're showing." Kaze stuck his tongue out at Tenji before bee lining it to the ship.

"Give that back you!" Tenji screamed/whined in frustration.

"Mood swings?" Tetsushi looked at his older brother.

"You have no idea," Seji sighed. "I'm just praying he doesn't kill us like last time."

"What happened last time?" Musa asked.

"I walked in on him changing," Seji smiled at her before boarding the ship. "THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!"

"Yeah, if you like being stuck in a death trap then its just peachy!" Tenji remarked sarcastically. Kaze came up behind him and smacked him. "HEY!" Tenji screeched.

"Be good and I'll let you hit something when we land," Kaze batted.

"I hate you," Tenji muttered.

"Love ya too," Kaze answered sitting next to him.

"Okay if we're ready to go we should head out. And Tenji – don't touch anything!" Timmy warned as he closed the door.

"I've got it," Tenji sighed, leaning on Kaze's shoulder and falling asleep.

"Well at least we'll be safe this time," Tetsushi sighed. Abruptly he fell to the floor, Tenji's fist raised at the point where he had just been standing. "I hate you." Tenji's fist lowered and the boy settled into a deeper sleep.

"Is he always like this?" Sky asked, helping Tetsushi off the ground.

"Like what?" Tetsushi asked.

"Like a girl?" Brandon interrupted. Tetsushi and Seji burst into laughter, sliding to the floor.

"You don't know the half of it," Tetsushi managed.

* * *

**AN: Yay next chapter! I barely had time to edit this thing. This is my last week of finals then I have a month off for break so I plan to update more often! Please rate, review and all that jazz!**

**~Ashe**

**EDIT: Sorry about the notes that I left in. I've fixed all those! **


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Jiā looked at Tides in awe. The waves rolled crashed right into the castle. The sky was a pure blue and there were birds in the air. "You're home is very beautiful," Jiā smiled back at the group.

"I like it too," Layla smiled. "Come on, I want you to meet my parents." Layla grabbed Jiā's wrist and pulled her to the castle.

"That's new," Bloom stated, shocked.

"Really?" Tetsushi looked at her.

"When we're in the dorm she'll just sit to the side. Or if she sits with us she doesn't say anything," Bloom explained. "She usually doesn't interact with us."

"I think it's the water," Tenji sighed. "It has a purifying affect on people."

"If there's anyone of us who would understand the pain of watching the people you love die it would be Layla," Riven sighed.

"Really why?" Seji looked at Riven.

"Her fiancé died in her arms."

* * *

Jiā looked around the throne room in awe. The room was lined in velvet robes and a large window behind the thrones opened to the sea. Jiā guessed it was wide open if the smell of the sea was anything to go by. Sitting on the thrones were Layla's parents. She could see Layla in both. Her father's strength, her mother's beauty. Both of their confidence. "Hello," Jiā bowed to the pair, followed by the others.

"Jiā, Layla has told us a lot about you and you're friends," the King rose to his feet. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Jiā answered, remembering her manners.

"What is it you need?" the king asked standing in front of the girl.

"A place to train. I need to train your daughter and her friends to fight our enemies. You're style of magic is not strong enough to defeat them. We came to Tides because Ms. Faragonda said that magic has lived on Tides since the beginning. The things that I will be teaching them to do will at times interfere with you're world's magic as the two styles clash greatly. Since the magical essence of Tides runs deep we don't run the risk of destroying it completely," Jiā answered.

"There are fields to the west of the castle that Layla trained in when she was little. You may use those how you see fit," the King granted.

"Thank you," Jiā bowed in gratitude. "And if it's not to much trouble. I would like to talk to one of your magical heads. I want to know how the magic of Tides flows so I know how best to processed."

"Of course I'll take you to Taboc. He is head wizard here. He could tell you," the King answered.

"Alright just give me a moment," Jiā bowed against before turning to Tetsushi. "Start on sword play. The girl's have no plan B if their magic fails them and it's imperative that they have one. When I get back we can start on magic. Try not to use magic, any of you," Jiā turned to everyone from her world, "we don't know the results that could happen here. We don't want to blow up their kingdom."

"Good luck," Tetsushi wished as the pair split to their respective jobs.

* * *

Tenji smirked at the group, eyeing Seji's 'teacher stance' that the older had taken. He was talking to the others about the basics of fighting in their world. The idea of using the opponent's attack against them was not new to the trained fighter. He eyed the boys, knowing that he and Kaze would be training them seeing as how they had some sword experience where as the girls were down-right clueless. Sighing, he ideally shifted from side-to-side in an attempt to cure his boredom. Tenji's attention was grabbed as the group divided across the field. Happily he followed Kaze, knowing that the slightly older boy would take control and begin the train session that would last well into sun down.

"Thankfully you know some sword play so once you adjust to our style of weapons you'll be fine on your own. Today were going to start on the simple task of wielding a sword," Kaze smirked throwing a bunch of metal swords to the ground before drawing his own. "Back home we use metal weaponry because it is immune to magic and heavier. You'll have to adjust to the added weight. Don't feel bad if it takes you awhile to even hold the word up for longer than a few seconds. Metal weapons are heavy and tiring. Pick up one of the blades in front of you." Kaze ordered, looking at the disorganized pile that he threw the weapons into. Tenji smirked seeing the trained heroes struggle to even lift the sword.

"It's not as easy as it looks. You'll want to use you're knees not your back. The light swords that you use weigh close to nothing. Though that's helpful for a quick strike technique, it's wouldn't get you anywhere with the creature's that were going to face," Tenji advised sitting on a rock next to where Kaze stood.

"How are you feeling?" Kaze glanced over at him before looking back to their students.

"I'll be fine. I'm used to it by now," Tenji shrugged. "Just a bit more irritable."

"More so than usual?" Kaze looked at him, raising an eyebrow, a cocky smirk decorating his lips. Tenji stood up and faced Kaze, only inches separating their noses.

"Don't push you're luck," Tenji whispered, his breath tickling Kaze's lips. Tenji turned to look back towards the boys leaving a chuckling/smirking Kaze behind.

* * *

The afternoon sun was high in the air and Tenji was wishing that rain would magically appear. "Alright you can stop now!" he screamed to the boys. After they had adjusted to the weigh of the new swords they began to go through position drills for the past hour and a half. Tenji stretched his shoulders before walking over to the boys. "You're pathetic," Tenji sighed as he pushed over Brandon. "Even a girl could beat you. At least she could hold the sword properly. Come on! Are you heroes or chumps?!" he screamed at them. Thinking quick, he blocked Riven's wild attack. "Are you going to show me your worth?" she baited him with a mere whisper. Riven screamed in his face before landing a solid hit to Tenji's stomach, sending the small boy back. Tenji rose to his feet slowly before throwing one of his swords, trapping Riven to the ground. The older ripped the sword from his cape before turning it against its master. Charging at Tenji, Riven gripped the sword with both hand aiming to strike at Tenji's head. At the last second, Tenji closed his hands along the blade, effectively stopping Riven in his tracks. "Not so heavy now is it?" Tenji smirked at the confused boy. Riven regained his bearings before realizing that he was in fact holding up the weigh of the heavy sword. "An amazing thing, adrenaline," Tenji breathed ripping the sword from Riven's grasp. "Remember this feeling, we'll be starting off here tomorrow." Tenji walked away from the group, leaving the students speechless in the sunset.

* * *

Kaze raced after Tenji, who was walking threw the field aimlessly. "Tenji! Tenji!" he screamed out, trying to find the smaller.

"Over here!" Tenji's voice answered. Kaze turned every which way he could, eyes finally landing on the smaller frame that he knew more about than anyone could have imagined.

"Why'd you le-" Kaze cut short seeing that large scrap down the side of Tenji's arm that was partially bandaged.

"Can't let them bruise my ego," Tenji answered. Kaze kneeled down, taking the bandage from Tenji's small hands and continuing the medical treatment for Tenji.

"Are there any other injuries?" Kaze asked trying to mask the slight tremor of fear in his voice.

"None at all. The hit wasn't strong enough to do anything to me," Tenji smiled, genuinely, at the slightly older boy.

"Cause you're the best," Kaze sighed, knowing the other's ego.

"Damn straight!"

"Just be careful," Kaze finished off the bandage, "I want you at my wedding."

"I'm in your wedding," Tenji countered.

"You're the most important piece of it."

* * *

**AN: I'm sorry this is so late. I wanted to post this last week for my readers but the training scene was being mean to me. Also if anyone has any ideas for the Winx Girl's training scene with Seji and Tetsushi please message me because that scene's being mean to me too. I really hope that you like the way it's turning out. Please comment, rate, review and all that jazz, I live off 'em. **

**~Ashe**


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Jiā tried to keep up as Stella zigzagged through the obstacle course that Seji had set up for the girl's to fly threw, Jiā, Izera, and Drenara hot on their tails. Stella banked to the left feet ahead of Jiā, taking the small turn sharply. Jiā smirked at the girl, knowing that she was caught. She charged the wall and at the last second bolted herself off the side of the wall and onto Stella's small frame. "You're going to have to fly better than that if you wanna outsmart your enemy," Jiā told the girl.

"How do you do that?" Stella asked, dusting herself off.

"I used the wall, it's not cheating," Jiā shrugged.

"Basic rules of flying," Seji walked over to the pair, the obstacles disappearing, "make your environment fight for you so you can focus on getting away or getting the high ground."

"This is hard," Stella whined, throwing herself to the ground.

"Let's call it a day, the sun is setting," Tetsushi said walking over, completing the group.

"Finally," someone whispered. Jiā looked at the Winx girls, covered in small scrapes and bruises looking worse for wear. The injuries were minor, nothing caught her attention that she'd have to help heal. The group began to walk back to the castle, Jiā remained behind looking at the sea. Walking through the fields, ignoring Tetsushi's calls, she walked to the edge of the water. It flowed to and from inches from her feet. She pulled off the sandals she was wearing and raced into the cool water, reveling in the tickling sensation in her toes from the cold liquid. The water flowed around her ankles, she felt the small fish swim around her feet. The ocean was so vast, the sunset light making the water seem to never end. Taking a deep breath she threw herself into the waves. The ocean floor of Tides was decorated with life. The fish swam around her face and through her snow white hair. The water no longer felt cold as she let knots in her shoulders unfurl. The curls in her hair came undone as she swam with the current, following the sea creatures that were heading to their homes for the night. Jiā let her thoughts, her worries over Death, flow away from herself and disappear with the current. Behind her she heard a splash and was surprised to see Tetsushi underneath the waves with her. Worried she blotted over to him, trying to push him back to land. He smiled at her before showing her the lotus charm around his neck. _'No need to worry.'_ He told her telepathically. Skillfully he wrapped a lotus charm around her neck and Jiā felt the pressure in her chest, from a loss of breath, disappear. She laughed at him before following the current and swimming away from him. For a boy who spent limited time in the water, Tetsushi could move through it as gracefully as any mermaid Jiā had ever seen. The pair somehow began to play a small game of hide and seek to Jiā's delight. The game lasted for rounds and rounds, mostly of Tetsushi chasing after Jiā, while the latter's laugher decorated the quiet ocean floor. Finally Tetsushi caught up to the girl and trapped her in his arms, no matter how hard she struggled her kept her firmly there. _'I want to fly.'_ She thought to him. Tetsushi smiled and shot out of the waves and into the sky. Jiā tightened her grip on his shirt as his brilliant red wings grew from his back and lifted the pair of them into the sky. Jiā let out tinkling laughter as Tetsushi flipped through the skies, his grip on her unbelievably tight. Jiā looked up at his shinning eyes with something so familiar yet so fear evoking for Jiā.

"Tetsushi I," she stammered, lost for words. Unconsciously lost in the shinning of his eyes. "I can't." she finally managed.

"I know," his smile was bittersweet, forced. The shinning in his eyes faltered a moment before coming back full force.

"Tetsushi – "

"Just be here. Just be with me, like this. Forever. It's enough. I promise it is. Just be with me. Never leave me behind," Tetsushi hid his face in her hair. She could feel the little droplets of water hitting her scalp and in response she merely clutched his shirt tighter and hid her face in his neck, tears forming on her own eyes.

* * *

**AN: Okay that scene turned really sad. I'm sorry that I've been MIA but I have writer's block. I know what I want to happen in a chapter or 2 but I need ideas to fill in the space. If there's a small scene like the one between Jia and Tetsushi that anyone's really wanting to see or if anyone has any ideas please PM since I could use all the help. I wanna update more for my readers but please help me out if you have ideas. I have a bit but there not really enough. Also let me know what you thought of this short excuse of a chapter. As always please rate, review and all that jazz. **

**~Ashe**


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